Was misquoted on beef ban, Hindu faiths and sentiments must be respected, clarifies Kiren Rijiju

New Delhi: A day after taking on Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju claimed that he was misquoted on his remarks on beef ban.

"I only said that India is a secular country and food habits cannot be stopped but the Hindu faiths and sentiments must be respected in Hindu majority states in the same way as the other communities have rights in their own dominant states," he said.

Differing view points on beef ban had emerged within the government after Rijiju had replied on Naqvi's comment that those who eat beef should go to Pakistan. At a function in Aizwal, the MoS Home Affairs had on Tuesday said that his colleagues comments are "unpalatable".

"I eat beef, I'm from Arunachal Pradesh, can somebody stop me? So let us not be touchy about somebody's practices," Rijiju had said.

He also even went onto to say that nobody could stop him from eating beef and sentiments and practices of people across the nation must be equally honoured. "If Maharashtra is Hindu majority and if they are to make laws which are conducive to the Hindu faith, let them be. But in our place, in north eastern states majority of people eat beef. So they also should not have a problem with the way we live. We have to honour the sentiments of each place and each location," he added.

Terming the recent statement of Naqvi as "not good", he, however, said that the Minister was using his freedom of speech and expression. He said that the cultures, traditions, habits and sentiments of all the people in the country should be respected and honoured.

Naqvi had defended the beef ban saying it was the prerogative of state governments to work to protect the sentiments of their citizens. "It is not about loss or profit. It is an issue of faith and belief. It is a sensitive issue for the Hindus," Naqvi said. Stoking a controversy he added, "those who are dying without eating beef, can go to Pakistan or Arab countries or any other part of world where it is available. Even Muslims are against it," he contended.