A group of protesters assembled outside the Jadavpur residence of senior lawyer and former Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya on Friday, brandishing cooked pork. The demonstration was a direct response to his vocal criticism of beef-eating bans in India.
Bhattacharyya Dismisses Protest as 'Absurd'
Dismissing the 'pork festival' outside his home as 'absurd', Bhattacharyya described it as a 'new trend set by the RSS' to defame individuals when ideological confrontation fails. He remained unfazed by the provocation.
Social Media Videos Surface
Videos circulating on Facebook showed a person named Joyjit Bhattacharya, identified as a digital creator from Bengal, holding a bowl of meat curry claimed to be pork. He challenged the senior advocate to consume it publicly to prove his secular credentials. Around seven others joined him, holding placards reading 'Welcome to our pork festival'.
Joyjit posted on social media: 'Today, we took pork to the doorstep of the beef-eating Bikash Bhattacharyya and — singing songs and extending a warm invitation — urged him to join our pork festival to share a meal and send a message of secularism through food; yet Comrade Bikash simply didn't show up. Is he suffering from an upset stomach? Or did he stay away out of fear that Salim bhaijan would make him do sit-ups while holding his ears if he ate pork?' Notably, Joyjit did not explicitly associate himself with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in any of his posts.
Background of the Controversy
The incident traces back to 2015, when Bhattacharyya, then a CPM leader, consumed beef during a street protest at Dharmatala. Since then, he has been repeatedly trolled and ridiculed online, but he has remained steadfast in his ideological stance.
Bhattacharyya's Response
Speaking to the media, Bhattacharyya said he was at home all day on Friday and only became aware of the gathering on Sunday morning after seeing the videos on social media. He speculated that the group merely intended to shoot a video and leave, possibly assuming he was not at home. 'They cannot change me ideologically, they cannot change me sociologically,' he asserted.
Commenting on the broader trend of public shaming of politicians, he added: 'This is the new trend set by the RSS. They want to malign a person when they fail to confront them, taking it to social media. Nothing else.'
In a social media post, he wrote: 'Had they made a little more effort to study Vivekananda, they would have realised there is no objection to eating beef either — though, in their view, perhaps Vivekananda was not a Hindu Sanatani… I congratulate those Sanatanis; they have very easily revealed their true character.'
Similar Protests Elsewhere
This is not an isolated incident. Right-wing groups have previously used pork as a tool for protest in other parts of the country, targeting individuals perceived as opposing Hindu cultural norms.
