Yesteryear actor and father of Ranbir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor found himself at the center of a controversy after tweeting that food and religion are separate and should not be mixed.
He further clarified his point saying that he was a beef-eating Hindu and this did not mean that he was a lesser god-fearing person than those who didn’t consume beef. Of course, all this is public knowledge.
But the point is that Rishi Kapoor has completely missed the point. There is no such thing as a beef-eating Hindu, whether he consumes it in India or abroad. Rishi Kapoor and learned scholars and liberals (especially from the Congress) may argue that Hinduism is a way of life and not a dogma or set of rites and rituals.
Even if Hinduism is a way of life, then surely that way of life contains certain edicts that are sacrosanct and inviolable, especially pertaining to the diet intake. The cow is considered holy and venerated on par with one’s mother for it is her milk that sustains creation.
Eating the dish of a creature revered as one’s mother and then calling oneself a beef-eating Hindu is a mockery of Hinduism, a blatant contradiction that leaves one speechless. Hindus don’t eat beef. Period! And there is no new species called ‘Beef-eating Hindus’!