A day after apparently suggesting that Olympic champion Usain Bolt ate beef to win nine gold medals, BJP MP and Dalit leader Udit Raj today took a dig at people confusing beef for cow meat. “How educated people can go so wrong understanding beef as cow meet ? Beef means cattle meat may include buffalo etc,” the MP tweeted.
The MP’s comments on Usain Bolt had sparked an outrage on social media. However, the Dalit leader clarified both on TV and social media that he was not suggesting cow meat while talking about beef. The MP also said that he had merely produced the statement of Bolt’s coach to point out the lack of sporting spirit among athletes in the country and their failure at the Olympics. Udit Raj continued his attack against Indian
Udit Raj continued his attack against Indian athletes’ over their failure at the Rio Olympics 2016. “New Zealand population about 50 lac and scored 18 medals in Rio &ours is 125 cr & that is about 200 yrs old country only.”
In the last two years, cow vigilantes have thrashed, sometimes even killed, a number of people across the country for allegedly consuming beef. In their pursuit, the vigilantes were often assisted by groups considered to be affiliated to the ruling BJP. However, there has always been a confusion over the definition of beef as some rightwing groups consider both cow and buffalo meat as beef.
Last year in December, a mob had beaten to death Mohammad Akhlaq, 50, and severely injured his 22-year-old son in Bisara village of Dadri district in Uttar Pradesh over the rumours that they had stored and consumed beef. Police even sent the samples of the meat found in their house to a forensic lab. Before this in October 2015, about 20 cops had visited Kerala House canteen in Delhi following a complaint by Hindu Sena leader Vishnu Gupta, who had said that the canteen had beef on its menu. Even as the canteen had clarified they were serving buffalo meat, Gupta claimed it was serving cow meat, hence beef.