West Bengal BJP unit president Samik Bhattacharya on Monday rejected self-styled preacher Dhirendra Shastri’s appeal to Bengalis to not consume non-vegetarian food during Durga Puja.
“Let me live the way I want to. Bengalis will eat what they have been eating. Can Bengalis not eat fish and meat? Who is above him?” the Bengal BJP chied questioned.
Bhattacharya said no one could decide what people in Bengal should eat, while saying that goat meat is offered to Goddess Kali too. Swami Vivekananda has said it. he clarified that the latter’s personal viewpoints could not be imposed on the people of Bengal While Bhattacharya said he respected Shastri as a religious figure. The Bengal BJP chief said that while a saint or a doctor could advise people to turn vegetarian, “nobody coming from outside can sit in Bengal and decide who will eat what and who will wear what.”
Shastri had, during his visit to Bengal, held religious programmes across the state under the BJP government, a departure from the tenure of the previous Trinamool Congress government.
Earlier reporting noted: A day after Bageshwar Dham head priest Dhirendra Shastri questioned the consumption of non-vegetarian food by Bengalis during Durga Puja, West Bengal BJP President Samik Bhattacharya rejected Shastri’s appeal and said that he has no right to decide what Bengalis will consume during the festival. Earlier reporting noted: Shastri, popularly known as Bageshwar Baba, said that even if it is not possible to install a Durga idol at home or in the neighbourhood, one should still worship the goddess with devotion and sincerity, adhering to the prescribed rituals.
Earlier reporting noted: Shastri, who was denied permission to hold religious events in West Bengal during the Trinamool regime, was recently welcomed by the BJP government with great fanfare. On Sunday, during a pravachan (religious or spiritual discourse) in Howrah, he appealed for a ban on the sale of non-vegetarian food near Durga idols during the festive period and urged Hindus in Bengal to observe Navaratri.
