Kiren Rijiju in denial mode, after claiming he was misquoted on beef, says he does not eat it

New Delhi: Beef continues to generate controversy in India and Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who comes from Arunachal Pradesh, is speaking in different voices on it. After claiming on Wednesday morning that he was misquoted on his remarks on beef ban, Rijiju later in the evening declared that neither he nor anyone in his family eats beef. “I never said that I eat beef. No one in my family eats beef. It’s a choice,” he said.

Rijiju, a Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal West seat, added that a very agitated media and the civil society in Mizoram asked him if they should go to Pakistan because they eat beef to which he replied that Constitution had given certain power, freedom and certain obligations. “Also I don’t eat beef, and it’s our choice,” he added.

But at a function in Aizwal on Tuesday, Rijiju had said that Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s comments that those eating beef should go to Pakistan 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.

Just a few days ago 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."