Muslims must give up beef to live in India: Manohar Lal Khattar

Chandigarh: Even as politics continues over the Dadri lynching case, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has stirred up another controversy by saying that Muslims can continue to live in India, but they will have to give up eating beef, a report said on Friday.

Khattar in an interview to 'The Indian Express' maintained that the cow is an article of faith in India, thus Muslims should stop eating beef.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracahark termed the Dadri lynching incident as wrong and a result of misunderstanding.

According to the newspaper, Khattar asserted that Bhagavad Gita, cow and Saraswati river are considered to be article of faith in the country, and Muslims wouldn't be violating their religious belief by shunning beef.

The Haryana CM noted that the Mohammad Iqlakh's killing was wrong; however, he said that the one should also contemplate as to why such an incident happened. He demanded strict punishment for the culprits in the Dadri case.

Meanwhile, speaking to ANI, Officer on Special Duty to CM Khattar, Jawahar Yadav dismissed the newspaper report saying that the Haryana CM only said that we should respect everyone.

He also accused the newspaper of trying to put words into Khattar's mouth.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday broke his silence on incidents like Dadri, saying that the BJP does not support such events.

Talking to a newspaper, the PM described the lynching of a man in Dadri and cancellation of a concert by Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali in Mumbai as unfortunate.

PM Modi told Anandabazar Patrika: "The Dadri incident or opposition to the Pakistani singer is undesirable and unfortunate. But what is the central government's relation with these incidents".

50-year-old Iqlakh was dragged out of his home by a 200-strong mob and beaten to death after a public announcement from the local temple that the family had slaughtered a calf and eaten its meat in Bishada village.