One can eat beef, but no need to celebrate it, says Venkaiah Naidu

Mumbai: Referring to the 'beef ban' in some parts of the country and much hue and cry over the issue, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday said that one can eat beef but there was no need for any celebration about it.

"You want to eat beef, then eat. Why festival? Similarly, a 'Kiss Festival', if you wish to kiss why do you need a festival or anyone's permission for it," Naidu said.

The Vice President made these remarks while addressing a gathering at Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of RA Poddar College of Commerce.

During his speech, Naidu also hit out at those who regard Parliament attack convict Muhammad Afzal Guru as their hero.

"Then you have Afzal Guru. People are chanting his name. What is happening? He tried to explode our Parliament," the Vice President said.

The Centre had on February 8 issued an alert advisory to the government in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the death anniversaries of Parliament attack convict Muhammad Afzal Guru and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) founder Maqbool Bhat.

The advisory was issued after the JKLF announced that it would hold a massive protest rally against the hanging of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat on February 9 and February 11.

Guru and Bhat were hanged and buried inside New Delhi's Tihar Jail on February 9, 2013, and February 11, 1984, respectively.

Naidu talking about the beef festival was seen in the context of the reports that some students of IIT-Madras held a beef festival inside the campus to protest against the cattle slaughter ban in July 2017.

In the past too, Naidu had addressed the beef issue.

While stressing on how food is an individual's choice he said that he is a strict non-vegetarian and nobody told him to what to eat or what not. 

(With ANI inputs)