A “beef fest” held in Bangalore on Monday to protest the central government’s restrictions on the sale of cows for slaughter conspicuously lacked one key ingredient: beef.
The student organizers of MOOment Bengaluru at the Town Hall did, however, discover that some right-wing groups had a beef with them when they showed up to disrupt it, sparking a 10-minute fight that had to be broken up by police.
One India reported that MOOment Bengaluru was organized by members of the Students’ Federation of India and the Democratic Youth Federation of India. The organizers had expressed on social media platforms their opposition to the ban and announced that they would boldly consume the controversial meat at the public event.
After word of their culinary intentions spread, leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and members of Bharatiya Gou Parivar, Hindu Jagarana Vedike and other right-wing groups angrily descended on the Town Hall to stage a counter-demonstration, The Hindu reported.
Before the festival even started, a fight erupted between the two dietary camps. Police officers guarding the venue immediately intervened and detained about 20 people.
However, in the end, the beef the counter-demonstrators had with the protesters was really over nothing. Unlike in Kerala and Chennai, where similar beef festivals were held – at Bangalore’s event there was no beef on the menu.