Beef Raid: Kerala MPs slam BJP for adding saffron in their beef; say 'Centre must apologise'

New Delhi: Parliamentarians from Kerala on Tuesday protested the “beef raid” at the Kerala House here and demanded the dish be brought back on the menu of the canteen. A police ‘raid’ on Kerala House here to check if it served beef triggered a storm Tuesday, with the chief ministers of Kerala, Delhi and West Bengal as well as Left leaders condemning the “intolerance” and demanding action against Delhi Police – which reports to the central government. Although there was no response from the central government, Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi insisted that his men did not “raid” Kerala Police on Monday and broke no law. He said police only wanted to prevent possible trouble after they got a complaint that beef was served in the canteen of Kerala House, located in the heart of the capital. [caption id=“attachment_2483668” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Saffron and beef don’t mix, say Kerala MPs[/caption] Kerala House promptly took off “Carabeef” (buffalo meat) from its menu after some 20 policemen entered the premises and made inquiries and made it clear that it was not cow meat. On Tuesday, Kerala House said beef would return to its menu from Wednesday. After calling the police action “unwarranted and unfortunate”, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking action against Delhi Police. Chandy said the “raid was conducted without any permission or prior intimation to the Resident Commissioner. “I would like to inform you that Kerala House serves authentic Kerala cuisine, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. All the items on the menu are in accordance with and entirely with the confines of law,” Chandy said. “This is an infringement on the rights of the people of Kerala. This is a property of people and government of Kerala. We condemn this police action,” said A. Sampath, who represents Attingal constituency. “If the buffalo meat served here is lawfully purchased from the local vendors then why should anyone prevent us from cooking and eating that?” he asked. “This is all a part of Sangh Parivar agenda. This is an attempt to stoke communal tension. They will not succeed in imposing these things (restrictions) in Kerala since they don’t have any foothold there,” he added. Another Lok Sabha MP P.K. Sreemathi said: “This is an attack on federalism. What people eat is their right. No one has the right to tell what they can eat and cannot eat.” “This is a very serious issue. This is Kerala House. It is not the property of the central government. The centre should apologize,” she said. Among the others who joined the protest were senior Communist Party of India-Marxist leaders C. P. Narayan and P. Vijayan. “Buffalo meat is not prohibited, so levelling such allegations is uncalled for. The police are behaving like a mob,” said Narayanan, who is also an MP. Delhi Police had claimed that they visited Kerala House only to prevent any tension or untoward incident. Refuting police’s claim, Vijayan, who is a CPI-M politburo member too, said: “If police came to prevent any untoward incident, then they should have stayed. Why did they leave? Their intention was not good. It is an attack on the federal structure.” “This is an official canteen of Kerala House. They (Police) have to seek permission before conducting an inquiry at Kerala House,” he added. A Delhi Police team visited Kerala House canteen on Monday evening after Vishnu Gupta, a Hindu Sena leader, lodged a complaint that the state house was serving ‘beef’. Officials at the Kerala House, however, said it was buffalo meat and not beef. Later, the dish was taken off the menu. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh also visited Kerala House and condemned the police action. “No one has given them the right to hurt people’s sentiments. If there is any problem related to food, then it is the job of the food inspector to inquire about it. This is not Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi’s job. Even (Minister of State for Home) Kiren Rijiju had admitted on camera that he consumes beef. Will Bassi go and arrest him? A lot of MPs consume beef,” said Singh. Rijiju was quoted as saying by a newspaper that he ate beef, but later retracted his comment saying he was misquoted. IANS