JNU debates serving of pork and beef
17 April 2012 4:21 PM GMT
The contentious issue of whether to allow serving of beef and pork in university campuses has shaken up North-Eastern community in Delhi-based Jawahar Lal Nehru University as well. Many students rue that when it comes to food in Nehruvian socialist JNU, the administration wants only ‘Brahminical’ menu. They claim that even after forty years of its establishment, this home to students from all regions and cultures of India, is still quite regressive and undemocratic in many ways.
The issue of availability of pork and beef on the campus took the Osmania University in Hyderabad by storm recently and even incited violent protests. One particular group in JNU, aghast at the incident, favour complete change in the university. “Despite diverse cultures and backgrounds of students in the campus, the administration has prepared straight-jacketed menus based on purely Brahminic standard of taste and decency. By pursuing such a policy of appeasing certain religious groups and imposing common standards for all shows that JNU is indirectly Brahminising the campus. While people from North-East have been trying hard to make a home in Delhi, their eating habits has been a bone of contention.” said Gideon Shadang, president of the Naga Student Forum.
Though a North-East Dhaba was established primarily to cater to the needs of students belonging to these indigenous communities, till date the administration has not permitted the joint to sell pork and beef dishes, the mainstay of North-Eastern cuisine. “Why does the North East food joint in JNU serve Chinese dishes? We are not Chinese. This myopic view of suspecting North-Eastern populace to be Chinese and Kashmiris to be Pakistanis has been the nemesis of dominant Indian paradigm. There is an effort to unite the mainstream at the expense of the peripheral cultural communities,” said Shadang.
NSUI president Manoranjan Mahapatra, meanwhile, maintained a diplomatic stand and said food habit was a personal choice. He said beef and pork dishes can be sold in dhabas all over the JNU campus but not in hostel mess, as that would involve hassles related to the administration.
“All over the world, eating pork and beef is an accepted practice. Making this a point of conflict is really not required when there are other major issues such as equality and freedom, that need immediate attention,” said Udit Raj, Dalit Leader of Justice Party of India.
The issue of availability of pork and beef on the campus took the Osmania University in Hyderabad by storm recently and even incited violent protests. One particular group in JNU, aghast at the incident, favour complete change in the university. “Despite diverse cultures and backgrounds of students in the campus, the administration has prepared straight-jacketed menus based on purely Brahminic standard of taste and decency. By pursuing such a policy of appeasing certain religious groups and imposing common standards for all shows that JNU is indirectly Brahminising the campus. While people from North-East have been trying hard to make a home in Delhi, their eating habits has been a bone of contention.” said Gideon Shadang, president of the Naga Student Forum.
Though a North-East Dhaba was established primarily to cater to the needs of students belonging to these indigenous communities, till date the administration has not permitted the joint to sell pork and beef dishes, the mainstay of North-Eastern cuisine. “Why does the North East food joint in JNU serve Chinese dishes? We are not Chinese. This myopic view of suspecting North-Eastern populace to be Chinese and Kashmiris to be Pakistanis has been the nemesis of dominant Indian paradigm. There is an effort to unite the mainstream at the expense of the peripheral cultural communities,” said Shadang.
NSUI president Manoranjan Mahapatra, meanwhile, maintained a diplomatic stand and said food habit was a personal choice. He said beef and pork dishes can be sold in dhabas all over the JNU campus but not in hostel mess, as that would involve hassles related to the administration.
“All over the world, eating pork and beef is an accepted practice. Making this a point of conflict is really not required when there are other major issues such as equality and freedom, that need immediate attention,” said Udit Raj, Dalit Leader of Justice Party of India.
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