By Kouser Fathima for Twocircles.net
As if we don’t have enough reasons to fight.
Food wars seem to be the new trend especially during the time of festivals. Come Bakrid, and suddenly the love for animals seems to be at its peak , many conveniently seem to forget that animals are consumed as food throughout the year, Bakrid or no Bakrid. Even as you are reading this ,millions of chicken are used to make chicken burgers and chicken pops by food giants like McDonald’s and KFC. So, this special concern for animals on a specific day can only be to target people celebrating Eid.
Let us be clear that people all over the world,follow different food habits ranging from vegans ,eggetarians ,vegetarians & non vegetarians . It is individual choice followed based on their religious and cultural preferences. We should realise that people across all faiths ,religions and nationalities are both vegetarians & non vegetarians.while many people are turning vegans & vegetarians due to various reasons but fact is Non-vegetarianism is a choice followed by millions of people worldwide. People are not ready to give up either of the choices , both claim their food preference is better than the others while the reality is both have their advantages & disadvantages . Better is to learn to respect each other’s food choices without being judgemental . Ideas that one is more peaceful or not can’t be judged based on food habits . Hitler was a vegetarian but killed millions of people while most countries practising Buddhism are non vegetarians.
While year around many who don’t blink an eye when non-veg food is consumed suddenly turn into animal activist on Bakrid. How stupid and funny can one get, especially those who are fine with KFC and McDonald’s serving non-veg but have a problem when people celebrate their festival. This is nothing but capitalist attitude where you are ok if with food giants serving non veg but not when ordinary folks consume non veg.
Many don’t know or don’t bother to know that when Muslims slaughter goat on Eid , most of the meat is distributed among the poor and needy. So it is a way of sharing food and privileges with the poor and needy. Yes, one can share veg food also but why dictate others how to do charity ,why should poor be deprived of non vegetarian food if they want to eat ?
It’s like telling the poor that you are poor so you shouldn’t be given free meat but it’s ok if food Giants can earn millions selling non veg food.
If there is concern it should be about hygiene , the people slaughtering should make efforts to do it without causing inconvenience to others.
Cleanliness & hygiene aspects should be strictly followed , slaughtering on roads should be strictly avoided. Almost all Muslim countries have designated areas or approved arbitrators for slaughter. The same model should be encouraged and followed in India to avoid inconvenience to all. If we want to enjoy our rights we simply can’t ignore our responsibilities.
All said & done Food wars will continue for years but let us maintain some dignity without targeting specific communities.
The author is a Bengaluru-based writer