Soon after he was announced as a newly elected member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly on 3 December 2023, videos of Indian politician Balmukund Acharya went viral. In the clips he can be seen asking a police officer, over the phone, to shut down the shops and stalls of people selling nonvegetarian food on the street.
The reason why this incident was so controversial can be found in the underlying ideology that has come to dominate Indian politics. The promotion of Hindu nationalism, including by members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) such as Acharya, has fuelled violence against religious minorities, particularly Muslims. The idea of the ‘vegetarian nation’ (which includes not eating eggs) has been manipulated by the Right to promote their agenda, despite the fact that people in India consume a variety of diets.1
In Hinduism cows are sacred. Muslims, who are more
