Kerala police academy beef: MoS Muraleedharan says Left raking issue for political gain

Politics have heated up since reports emerged that the Kerala Police Academy excluded beef from the menu prescribed for the trainees. BJP MP and Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan accused the Left and CPI (M) of raking up the issue of beef in Kerala for political gains. 

Speaking to reporters in Malappuram, V Muraleedharan said, "The Left and CPI (M) have been raising many issues, not on the merit but on the basis of the political benefit that they can derive out of it. Earlier they posed themselves as people advocating that there should be no restriction on food. Now they are putting restrictions, which shows that their opposition is purely on the basis of political considerations and not on other aspects."

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Reports baseless say cops

However, the Kerala police department had clarified that reports of beef being omitted from the menu prescribed for the newly trained police batch are baseless.

"As per the decision of the Mess Committee which consists of trainees' representatives and police officers, they were instructed to prepare healthy meals with food available in their respective areas. The aim is to ensure that the trainees get the energy they need through diet," read a statement issued by the police department.

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Previous row

Last month, a controversy surrounding Kerala Tourism sharing a beef recipe on Twitter on the occasion of Makar Sankranti had erupted. Kerala Tourism had shared the recipe of a local meat dish, popular in the Central Travancore region of Kerala, named Beef Ularthiyathu, which is a special delicacy in the region. Taking to its Twitter handle, Kerala Tourism wrote, "A recipe for the most classic dish, Beef Ularthiyathu, from the land of spices, Kerala."

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Vinod Bansal criticized this tweet saying it hurts the sentiments of crores of Hindus who worship cows and sought action from Home Minister Amit Shah, as well MoS of Culture and Tourism Prahlad Patel against the department.

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Repeated controversies

The debate over beef in Karaka is hardly a new one, with numerous flashpoints taking place in the last few years. Among these was a 2017 controversy that witnessed beef being served for breakfast in the state assembly as the MLAs protested against a new notification by Centre regarding the illegal slaughter of cows.

(With ANI inputs) (Photo: PTI)

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