Narendra Modi government has no right to decide what should people eat: Congress

Itanagar: The Congress in Arunachal Pradesh today hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he was not a judge of some cooking show to decide what should be cooked in the households.

"Neither Modi nor his government has the right to decide what we eat and cook in our households. This is not how democracy functions," Indian Youth Congress Secretary in-charge for Northeast Sarifa Rehman said.

The Arunachal Pradesh Youth Congress (APYC) held a rally here to protest against the Centre's ban on sale of cattle for slaughter at livestock markets.

The rally started from Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan and culminated at Mithun Gate area in the state capital.

Slogans of "We will eat beef and it's like vegetable to us" were chanted during the rally.

The Congress also submitted a memorandum to state governor PB Acharya demanding lifting of the ban with immediate effect.

"We have different cultures and traditional values in the Northeast and Arunachal in particular. Our food habits are different as we are scheduled tribes. Eating meat is associated with our culture. We cannot eat ghee (butter) and dal (pulses). So let us eat what we like," APYC president Jikke Tako said.

"Mithun, beef and pork meat have a ceremonial place in the economic, social and cultural life of various indigenous tribes in the Northeast," Tako said.

Chief Minister Pema Khandu had recently said that he consumes beef and sees no harm in others doing the same.