Peta sends missive to VC

HYDERABAD: Even as the ruckus over the beef festival on OU campus took a turn for the worse, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) on Monday shot off a letter to the university vice-chancellor Prof S Satyanarayana, advising him to serve delicious meat substitutes to the students.

“It may be helpful in discouraging such festivals from being held and keeping peace on the campus by treating your students to delicious meat substitutes such as soya chunks or mince in place of beef in your canteens and to let students know that all meat products are cruelly produced, environmentally disastrous and extremely unhealthy,” it said in its letter.

The organisation also claimed that if “institutions allow the serving or promotion of meat, they take away the right of the public to a healthy planet.”Citing a recent United Nations report, it stated that a global shift toward a plant-based diet is vital to saving people from the worst effects of climate change.

To buttress its arguments, it invoked Article 51 A (g) of the Constitution, which it said, makes it the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve natural environment, including wildlife, and to have compassion for all living creatures.