Mumbai: The hashtag #beefban became one of the most trending topics on Twitter, prompting hundreds of jokes and memes.
There’s been a flood of reaction to the ban on beef in Maharashtra on social media extending from serious, level-headed to rude comments.
Vishal Dadlani, Bollywood music composer, tweeted, “I’m vegetarian, so this Beef Ban doesn’t affect me personally. But freedom of choice is important, in a country where more than 30 per cent eat beef.”
Another tweet said, “Has Censor Board [film censorship board] come up with any notification banning the word ‘beef’”
“@rameshsrivats: In Maharashtra, all chicken, goats and sheep are currently thinking - Why do gais have all the fun? #BeefBan” #legend— Himanshu Tewary (@7himanshut) March 6, 2015
Recently, the board came up with plans to compel filmmakers to omit swear words and even the use of Mumbai’s old name “Bombay.’ This move has been kept on hold.
RT suranjanasays: Many in #Mumbai and #Maharashtra upset with the #BeefBan. Many livelihoods lost too. My piece fo… http://t.co/5TxtiHEvCk— Phyllis Santos (@SantosPhyllis) March 6, 2015
Reacting to the beef ban, one Nigel Britto tweeted, “BJP banned beef in Maharashtra? Tsk. They forgot they were voted in to raise the stakes, not to erase the steaks.”
Even more sarcastic was Salman Rushdie, @Rushdie Explains, who said on Twitter, “Congratulations Maharashtra: it is now safer to be a cow than a woman, Dalit or Muslim in the state.”
Congratulations Maharashtra: it is now safer to be a cow than a woman, Dalit or Muslim in the state.— RushdieExplainsIndia (@RushdieExplains) March 3, 2015
On Facebook, Sajid Kayum said: “5 years imprisonment for possession of beef; 2 years for sexual harassment. Welcome to #Maharashtra, where eating beef is more dangerous than sexually harassing a woman.”
Another Facebook user Atul Khatri, joked, “Thanks to this BeefBan we now know the difference between cows, calves, bulls, bullocks and buffaloes.”
