The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : On vegetarianism

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Saturday, May 31, 2008
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On vegetarianism

I would also like to appreciate The Hindu for publishing an article discussing a court verdict (“Vegetarianism, tolerance and discrimination,” May 26) upholding the Gujarat government’s order banning the sale of meat for nine days during a Jain festival. Many Jains also abstain from eating roots and some other vegetables. Is it possible to ban their sale too? A ban on meat may not affect the favoured majority in the State and may go unnoticed but a ban on some vegetables for nine days will surely cause a hue and cry. Can a demographically Muslim majority State ban restaurants from operating during daytime in the holy month of Ramadan?

The Gujarat government order stems from the misconception shared by many Indians that vegetarianism is superior to non-vegetarianism (thanks, partly, to the caste system). It is time we appreciated that non-vegetarianism is a matter of lifestyle and personal choice.

P. Balasubramaniam,

Edinburgh

* * *

A study of the full judgment of the Supreme Court in the Hinsa Virodhak Sangh case shows that it examined all the issues in great detail before giving its verdict. The article has ignored two important points made by the court — that the practice of shutting down the slaughter houses during the period of the Jain festival has been in vogue for several years and that even Emperor Akbar, who had a great regard for the principles of Jainism, forbade the eating of meat in Gujarat for six months in a year.

V. Krishnamachari,

Mumbai

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