Kerala Minister clarifies on 'beef recipe' row, says ‘no one linking food with religion’

Amid the controversy surrounding Kerala Tourism sharing a beef recipe on Twitter on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, Tourism Minister K Surendran on Friday clarified that the State government had no "interest in hurting the religious beliefs of anyone" and criticised the attempt to give the incident a "communal colour".

"In Kerala, no one is linking food with religion. The government does not have any interest in hurting the religious beliefs of anyone. Giving communal colour to this is condemnable," Surendran said at a press conference.

He further said that some people were trying to give it the scenario communal angle by demanding "pork recipes" on Twitter.

"Those who are trying to find communalism in all this, are creating a controversy by saying 'put pork pictures'. Many dishes, including pork pictures, are already on the website, they might not have seen," Surendran added.

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Kerala Tourism had shared the recipe of a local meat dish, popular in the Central Travancore region of Kerala, named Beef Ularthiyathu, which is a special delicacy in the region.

Taking to its Twitter handle, Kerala Tourism wrote, "A recipe for the most classic dish, Beef Ularthiyathu, from the land of spices, Kerala."

Netizens gave mixed responses to the tweet, while some said "beef is not Kerala's culture", others called the recipe "a match made in heaven".

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VHP outraged on Kerala Tourism sharing local beef dish

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Vinod Bansal on Thursday criticized a tweet by Kerala Tourism promoting a local beef delicacy. Bansal said that the tweet hurts the sentiments of crores of Hindus who worship cows and sought action from Home Minister Amit Shah, as well MoS of Culture and Tourism Prahlad Patel against the Kerala tourism department. 

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(With inputs from ANI)