Trinamool Congress MP Slams South Delhi Mayor’s Cry To Close Down Meat Shops In Navratri

South Delhi Municipal Corporation pushed for the temporary closure of meat shops. There are some 1500 such registered shops in Delhi. This was to mark the auspicious occasion of Navratri. But this decision has not gone well with the Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra. A resident of South Delhi herself, she felt it was unnecessary to put such closure bans, owing to the fact that the Constitution does not ask for any such bans and gives every Indian citizen a right to decide what to eat.

She has openly slammed the ban on meat shops in various parts of Delhi for the Hindu festival of Navratri. She referred to freedoms guaranteed to Indian citizens by the Constitution, she said it allows her to eat meat whenever she likes and also allows shopkeepers selling meat the freedom to conduct their business.

There are Bengalis, Kaistha and Muslims who consume meat throughout the year and therefore it is only unfair to prevent them from consuming their own staple food to mark one religious’ belief. She was open about this in her tweet.

Beginning this week, the South Delhi Mayor Mukesh Suryan had announced that meat shops under his civic body should be shut during the “auspicious period of Navratri devoted to Goddess Durga”, adding that devotees avoid eating meat, onions, and garlic during these nine days. He had claimed the decision was taken following complaints, and that it does not infringe on anyone’s liberty.

While East Delhi Mayor Shyam Sunder Aggarwal claimed that during Navratra “90 per cent people do not consume non-vegetarian food”, his south counterpart Mukesh Suryan said there was “no need to open meat shops” during the festival as “most people do not consume non-vegetarian food,” during this period. However, it is worth noting that the same people do consume non-vegetarian food in huge amounts throughout the rest of the calendar year too. No official order has been given to this effect as of now.