Videograb showing eggs being presented at the 87th Akhila Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelan in Mandya.
After pressure from several progressive groups and Dalit organizations, the food committee of the 87th Akhila Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelan arranged for eggs to be served at dinner on the last day of the event in Mandya on Sunday. This is the first time in the history of the conference.
On Sunday afternoon, the workers of the progressive organization held a service baadoota (non-vegetarian food) for lunch as a protest against the “implantation of Brahmanical food culture” by the conference organizers. The issue of “banning” non-vegetarian food at the conference already became controversial.
Initially, the police did not allow the workers to distribute non-vegetarian food at the main entrance of the conference. Later, the hosts started serving chicken curry, ragi mudde, eggs and chicken kebabs at the dining area. At this point, police near the food counter tried to seize the food, but failed. Finally, hundreds of people who came to the conference enjoyed the fare.
A ‘restricted’ item
Ahead of the conference, several progressive organizations expressed outrage over organizers listing non-vegetarian food among the “banned” items at the venue, along with tobacco and alcohol. They started a campaign against it and said that they would serve non-vegetarian food in the program as a protest against the imposition of diet.
It is said that the district administration met with the workers and verbally agreed to distribute eggs at the food counter of the conference. However, the eggs were not distributed. Enraged by this, the activists have decided to serve non-veg food on their own initiative on Sunday.
However, by nightfall the organizers were unfazed and decided to serve eggs as the official dinner.
published – December 22, 2024 at 08:44 PM IST