Posted on 04/16/2012 8:37:24 PM PDT by Steelfish
16 April 2012 Violence Breaks Out At Indian Beef-Eating Festival
Dalits students argue they should have freedom to eat what they want A beef-eating festival at a university in the Indian city of Hyderabad has led to clashes between rival sets of Hindu students, police say.
They say that Hindus who regard cows as sacred fought with low caste Dalit groups who organised the event.
About 1,500 people were fed beef biriyani as part of the festival late on Sunday evening.
Dalit groups want beef on the campus hostel menu. Right wing Hindu groups say eating beef is not Hindu practice.
Last year's event at Osmania University also ended in violence.
The BBC's Omer Farooq in the city says that says there has been tension for a few days now on the campus.
Our correspondent says that has been the case ever since organisers announced that the festival - held over the weekend - would go ahead. Right wing Hindu groups soon afterwards declared their intention to stop it.
The clashes that were feared erupted on Sunday evening and carried on late into the early hours of Monday morning, reports say.
Batons and teargas Police say that the violence began when about 100 members of the right wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) marched towards the festival ground and were stopped by police.
The protesters then set two vehicles on fire and threw stones at police, who used batons and teargas to beat back the crowd.
Senior police officer Amit Garg said the situation is now under control.
Protesting students say that Hinduism is being besmirched by beef eaters
Dalit groups want beef included in food served at the campus hostel. Festival organiser B Sudarshan told the BBC that they were involved in a fight for the "freedom to eat".
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Hindu’s had 4 basic castes. Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishna & Shudra. Kshatriya’s are the warrior class and are non-vegetarians meaning they can eat meat. The Shudra’s are the traditional non-touchables, who used to be the poorest people and probably ate anything they could get hands on. The other two castes are vegetarian.
The caste system is very much diluted now, similar to inter-racial marriages on the way up in USA.
I was acquainted with an Indian fellow who said he was one of the "untouchable" class, and being Catholic, he was raised in southern India. He grew up and became a Catholic Priest which brought him out of poverty and to the US to preach. He told me if he preached in India he would surely be killed. I'm not sure if this is because he is Catholic or because he's an untouchable or a little of both.
Not quite true. I was a student in a convent school and that was way back in 1950’s. All our teachers were either nuns or priests. We did not care what religion they were or preaching, they were just great teachers from my point of view.
I grew up in a city of 250,000 population, and during college years had hundreds of friends. None of us were aware of or cared what caste we belonged to. Only time caste came into any relevance was when looking for a marriage partner. Arranged marriage was the norm but not forced marriage, in my caste. Either the prospective groom or bride had the final veto power.
So the “untouchable” issue may have some relevance in villages, but not so much in bigger cities. One funny anecdote is from my favorite city of Mumbai was so cosmopolitan, when I arrived for graduate studies at Iowa City, all the movies running there for next 6 months or so I had already seen in Mumbai! The movies were obviously released in Mumbai lot sooner than Iowa City.
Hinduism is anything but “New Age”. Hinduism is FAR OLDER then Christianity.
New Age beliefs are a blend of Hindu (pantheism, yoga, meditation) and occult beliefs and practices (spirit guides, astral projection).
LOL. Here in Australia, we call them thongs - thin, leather strips. And over here, flip flops are ubiquitous. Everyone wears them and there is no such stigma attached. Imagine sweaty, rotting feet in wet socks and shoes steaming throughout the day in hot weather - blech!
Sometime people lack the cognitive capacity to use their intelligence when it is apt. Flip flops are completely relevant in many situations, especially informal ones like making a round to the local grocers. I am pressed to wonder what sick foot fetish these imbeciles nourish to stare at others feet at a store, of all places.
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