Hindi News

It Was Buffalo Meat, Says Kajol

By Sanjana Chakraborty
Kajol VIP-2
Kajol at Dilwale Gerua Song Launch

After posting a video of a beef dish that her friends had prepared, actress Kajol got trolled on social media for offending Hindu sentiments and eating the kind of meat that is usually looked at as an “anti-national” act in the country. 

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The video posted on Sunday on her Facebook and Instagram accounts included ‘beef pepper water with dry lentils and dry beef’ by her friend Ryan Stephen. In the video, Kajol asks her friend to explain the dish, the description of which has landed her in trouble.

Cattle slaughter in India is a historically taboo subject because of the animal’s godly status in Hinduism. 

The Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976 governs the slaughter of cattle in the state. Slaughter of cows is totally prohibited. Anyone violating the law can be punished with imprisonment up to a maximum of six months and fine of up to Rs 1,000. The crime is treated as a cognizable offence. As of March 2015, the Maharashtra cow slaughter ban extends to the sale and export of beef, with a punishment of five years in jail, and/or a Rs 10,000 fine for possession or sale. There have also been cases of people beaten to death and lynched for allegedly consuming cow meat in the country. 

Bearing this in mind, in a bid to stop the trolling, Kajol released a statement on social media, clarifying that it was buffalo meat. In a lot of restaurants in Maharashtra, the restaurant’s menu clarify that while there is beef, it is only buffalo meat. 

Some of the reactions to her video had trolls saying nasty things about her “kaalepan” (blackness) and calling the lawmakers hypocrites.

Sanjana Chakraborty is a Alum at Silverscreen India, and can be reached on Twitter at sanjana_c28 or by email at former@silverscreen.in