New Delhi: Kerala government today asserted that there was no beef being served at Kerala House here and lodged a complaint with Delhi Police over the unauthorised entry of some activists into the state-run guest house even as buffalo meat was removed from the menu.
Briefing reporters at Kerala House in Delhi, Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson dismissed claims that beef was served in the canteen there.
“No. I totally deny it. We have never done it. What they have done is they have given buffalo meat and that is what they term as beef. No cow meat was served,” he said. He said a complaint has been lodged with Delhi Police over the entry of some activists into Kerala House without taking permission from the Resident Commissioner.
“Yesterday, we were told that some activists have entered without the permission of the Resident Commissioner. We have taken objection to that. We have lodged a complaint with the DCP (of Delhi Police),” he said.
The Chief Secretary also said that police should have entered with permission yesterday. However, in the light of the events yesterday, Kerala House has temporarily taken buffalo meat off its menu, according to the officials running the canteen.
Meanwhile, A Sampath, a CPI(M) MP representing Attingal Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, said that the incident was “humiliating” for the state government. “As a member of Parliament, I feel that it is something humiliating to the state government.
.This (Kerala House) is the property of the Government of Kerala, just like a foreign nation having its embassy here in India. I am not challenging the powers of the Government of India. But what has happened here is highly deplorable. I suspect there might be some political motive behind it,” he said.
He also asked Kerala government to bring buffalo meat back on the menu.
Meanwhile, frequent visitors to the canteen at Kerala House expressed their disappointment over the absence of buffalo meat.
“I visit the restaurant more that once a week to have buffalo meat... But now I am disappointed to find buffalo meat off the menu,” said Kerala-based Anu, who is presently residing in Delhi.
A PCR call complaining about beef curry being served at Kerala House here threw police into a tizzy yesterday and a team had to be sent there to avert any “untoward incident”. The call was received by the police control room around 4.15 PM, and the caller, claiming to be from a fringe right-wing group, told the police that beef was being served at Kerala House.
The policemen took no chance and the input was immediately passed on to Parliament Street police station, from where a team was sent to Kerala House to deal with any potential violence.
