Joining the hate campaign of Hindutva social media handles against opposition leaders for allegedly posting pictures or videos of them consuming non-vegetarian food to ‘hurt Hindu sentiments’ during the period of Chaitra Navratri, which falls between April 9 and April 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused opposition leaders of ‘disrespecting’ Hindu sentiments by consuming meat during the month of Sawan.
“The people of Congress and INDI alliance do not care about the sentiments of the majority of the people of the country. They enjoy playing with the sentiments of the people. A person who has been sentenced by the court and who is on bail — they visit the house of such a criminal and enjoy cooking mutton in the month of Sawan and they make a video of it to tease the people of the country,” PM Modi said at an election rally in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur.
Speaking at a public rally in Udhampur, PM Modi referred to a viral video and said, “Who do you want to mock? Eating non veg during the days of Navratri, by showing the video and hurting the sentiments of the people, who are you trying to impress by playing this game?”
He went on to claim that the videos of people consuming meat are posted “intentionally so that the beliefs of this country are attacked.”
“The law does not stop anyone from eating anything but the intentions of these people are something else. When the Mughals attacked here, they were not satisfied until they demolished the temples. So just like Mughals, they want to tease the people of the country by showing the video in the month of Sawan,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Though the PM did not take any names, he was probably reacting to a viral video which was released in September 2023, in which Congress former chief Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader and veteran socialist leader Lalu Yadav were seen cooking mutton together.
The PM’s statements were met with severe criticism from Opposition leaders and netizens who accused him of trying to divide people based on their food choices.
PM Modi also attacked the Congress over Lord Ram’s temple in Ayodhya.
“Congress says Ram Mandir is an election issue for BJP. I want to say that Ram Mandir was never an election issue, nor will it ever become an election issue. The struggle for Ram temple was going on even before the birth of the BJP… When foreign invaders destroyed our temples, the people of India fought to save their religious places. The leaders of Congress and its allies lived in big bungalows but when it came to changing the tent of Ram Lalla, they used to turn their backs,” he said.
