Thiruvananthapuram: Newly-inducted minister from Kerala in the Narendra Modi cabinet, Alphons Kannanthanam, has touched a politically sensitive nerve only two days after his swearing-in, by stating that Keralites can continue to eat beef.
Speaking to media persons in Delhi, the former Indian Administrative Service officer and former MLA who represented the Kanjirapally constituency in Kottayam district, said he saw no problem for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Keralites continuing to consume beef.
“No one has asked Keralites not to eat beef”, Kannanthanam said, pointing out that beef-eating was not banned in Goa, a state where BJP leader Manohar Parikkar was the chief minister.
Kannanthanam’s stand comes at a time when cattle slaughter is banned in more than 20 of India’s 29 states. Kerala was one of the few states which vociferously protested against the federal government’s move to implement a nationwide ban on cattle slaughter.
Kannanthanam, who was a Left-supported MLA for five years from 2006 and shifted to the BJP camp in 2011, said there had been rumours in 2014 that the Christian community would be at the receiving end if the BJP came to power, and that such fears had been scotched by the Modi government over the first three years of its term.
However, Kannanthanam’s remarks were trolled on social media, with netizens stating that they did not need Kannanthanam’s permission to eat beef.
“Oh, feudal lord, we don’t need your decree to eat beef”, commented one, while another said “the new minister has started wearing his loyalty to his master on his sleeve”.
