Mumbai, March 23
He is facing what he calls
"nonsense" for his comment on the beef ban in Maharashtra. But veteran
actor Rishi Kapoor, who says he doesn't eat beef in India, is undeterred
in reiterating that food and religion must not be equated.
The
controversy began when Rishi, from his Twitter handle @chintkaps,
posted: "I am angry. Why do you equate food with religion?? I am a beef
eating Hindu. Does that mean I am less God fearing then a non eater?
Think!!".
He was brought back to Twitter by Abhishek Bachchan,
but he never thought he'd land up in a hot sticky beef stew of a
controversy so soon after his return to micro-blogging.
"I am being abused. My family is being abused. As if we are a family of cow-killing infidels. What nonsense," Rishi said.
To
recap the events leading to the controversy, Rishi said: "I was
shooting on March 15 at a five-star hotel. We took a break for lunch in
the coffee shop where for buffet lunch I suddenly see venison, kangaroo
and lamb meat on offer.
"I told my colleagues, 'This is the
effect of banning beef. They start killing other animals for meat.'
Never in my life have I seen venison, which is deer meat. The deer was
dear to Bhagwan Shri Ram, we were told -- being served in any
restaurant... and kangaroo meat in India? "
Rishi then tweeted his thoughts on the matter, and before he knew it, "the entire nation took off on me".
"You
can't deny the fact that animals are cut for meat. Hindu organisations
that have attacked me. They want me to be vegetarian. But I am not! And
that's my choice," he said.
Rishi doesn't deny being a beef
eater, but said: "I don't eat beef in India. I eat beef prepared from
cattle bred for food. In the US, England, Australia and New Zealand,
they breed cattle specially for meat. Not like us. In this country, we
do not breed cattle specially for meat-eating."
"I don't eat cow meat in India. Beef is not allowed me in my house. 90 percent of my Hindu friends eat beef or beef products."
He feels persecuted.
"What
wrong did I say? People have simply chosen to twist my words. They are
abusing me and my family. If our Hindu culture forbids beef meat, does
the same culture give you the right to abuse me and my family just
because I have an opinion that you don't agree with?
"If by
banning beef the restaurants are going to find alternative meat, then
what is the point? What about fish farming? That occupies so much of our
work force close to the sea, should we stop eating fish as well? I
repeat, I don't eat beef in India.
"We don't breed cattle meat
here. We revere the cow, and there was a scientific reason for that
reverence. Cows give us milk, curd, ploughed our land. Likewise, pig
meat is avoided in some areas as it is unhygenic."
He feels the choice of being a vegetarian or otherwise is entirely personal.
"Please
do not equate food with religion. I believe it's not my khaana (food),
but my karma that makes me a good human being. All these rules of living
are man-made. I respect these religious rules.
"I am a true
god-fearing Hindu... Nonetheless, I have every right to have my opinion.
Don't try to shout me down just because you have another point of
view."
The 62-year-old says his voice won't silenced. "I am not
advocating beef eating. But I am advocating a freedom to have an opinion
and a voice."
