What's the beef?: The Tamil Nadu biryani festival row explained

Biryani, especially beef biryani, is again in the news and not for its deliciousness as the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes said that there should not be any restrictions and discrimination towards beef biryani during district level biryani festivals. Two months ago, Tirupattur Collector Amar Kushwaha had said that beef and pork biryani stalls would be excluded from Ambur Biryani Thiruvizha 2022. According to The Indian Express, the Commission had then issued a notice to the collector, questioning the “discrimination on communal basis” in the biryani festival. What is the festival about? The town of Ambur in Tirupattur is renowned for its biryani made of seeraga samba, a fragrant, short and plump grained rice. To take its popularity beyond the region and to boost tourism in Tirupattur, the district administration had announced a three-day biryani festival from 13 to 15 May. The festival was also an attempt by the district administration to get the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Ambur biryani. With more than 20 varieties of biryani at over 30 stalls, it was going to be a fragrant food extravaganza. However, the excitement over the biryani festival could not last long as the collector said that no beef or pork would be allowed at the event and only chicken, mutton, fish and prawn biryani would be sold at stalls. The festival was later indefinitely postponed by the collector citing heavy rain forecast. What was the controversy? The collector’s announcement caused a stir among Islamic and Dalit outfits, including the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), an ally of the ruling DMK that was formerly known as the Dalit Panthers of India. VCK’s Vanni Arasu opposed the ban and took to Twitter to register his dissent. He tweeted on 12 May that the exclusion of beef goes against the DMK’s Dravidian model and demanded that “beef that is consumed by 75% of the people be included” in the festival. He also threatened to distribute free beef biryani opposite the Ambur Trade Centre, if his demands were not heard. Subsequently, The Tamil Nadu State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes issued a showcause notice to the Tirupattur collector. It stated that excluding beef biryani from the festival was a form of discrimination against Dalits and Muslims. “This Commission, on consideration of the petition, has chosen to take up the matter for enquiry as a practice of untouchability in the form of a discrimination against SC/ST and the muslim population which accounts for more than 2 lakhs. You are required to submit your remarks as to why the same shall not be taken as a discrimination on communal basis,” the notice read. What has the Commission said now? According to The Indian Express, the Commission accepted the district administration’s reply that the collector did not do anything to cause caste-based discrimination, but pointed out that “beef biryani should not be avoided in a biryani festival organised by the government and if done so, it leads to discrimination”. In its statement, the Commission said, “We are accepting what Tirupathur Collector has said over Beef Briyani controversy that district administration did not do anything to discriminate people on caste base. In the coming days there should not be any restrictions and discrimination towards beef biryani on district-level biryani festivals. Also, beef biryani should not be avoided on biryani festivals which were conducted by district administration.” With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.