NEW DELHI: West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya has rejected Dhirendra Shastri’s appeal to people in the state to avoid non-vegetarian food during Durga Puja, saying Bengal’s traditional food habits cannot be dictated by a visiting religious preacher.Shastri, popularly known as Bageshwar Baba, had urged people to give up non-vegetarian food during the festival and described those who continued eating it as “pakhandis” (heretics).Responding to the remarks, Bhattacharya said Bengalis would continue following their traditional food practices and stressed that an outsider could not decide what people in the state should eat or wear.“Let me live the way I want to. Bengalis will eat what they have been eating. Can Bengalis not eat fish and meat? Swami Vivekananda has said it. Who is above him?” Bhattacharya said.“Here, goat meat is offered as an offering to Maa Kali,” he added.
BJP leader backs Bengal’s food traditions
Bhattacharya said eating ‘luchi’ (puris) on Ashtami and goat meat on Navami has long been part of Bengali tradition during Durga Puja. He said there was no question of abandoning these practices because of Shastri’s appeal.“We generally eat ‘luchi’ on Ashtami and goat meat on Navami. We will continue to do that. Nobody can tell the people of West Bengal what they should eat,” he said.While saying that he respected Shastri as a religious figure, Bhattacharya argued that his personal views should not be treated as rules for Bengali society.“A saint or a doctor may have the right to advise people to become vegetarian. But nobody coming from outside can sit in Bengal and decide who will eat what and who will wear what,” he said.He also stressed that Shastri’s remarks represented his personal views.The issue has sparked a wider debate in West Bengal, where fish and meat are closely associated with traditional Bengali food and religious practices vary across communities and regions. The practice of offering goat meat to Goddess Kali at several temples has also been cited in the debate.
Shastri’s visit takes on political overtones
The controversy comes days after Shastri made his appeal during his visit to West Bengal. His visit has also attracted political attention after he was able to hold religious programmes across the state under the BJP government, despite allegations that he had faced difficulties in obtaining permission during the previous Trinamool Congress regime.Bhattacharya’s comments indicate that the BJP’s West Bengal unit does not support any attempt to impose a blanket vegetarian prescription on the state’s population during Durga Puja.The BJP has been trying to expand its presence in West Bengal by combining its Hindutva politics with an appeal to Bengali cultural identity. Shastri’s remarks have highlighted the challenge of balancing religious messaging with the state’s distinct food and cultural traditions.
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BJP chief comments on Durga Puja advert
Bhattacharya also commented on a separate controversy involving a West Bengal government advertisement that showed Goddess Durga with 11 hands.He advised against turning what he described as a “possible technical or printing error by the advertising agency” into a political issue and said the mistake should simply be corrected.The BJP leader’s response to both controversies reflects an attempt by the state unit to distinguish religious beliefs from Bengal’s established cultural practices, particularly when it comes to food during Durga Puja.
