Why are the dietary choices of Muslims often perceived as personal choices, while vegetarianism practised by Hindus and other communities is seen as discriminatory?
National Geographic show 'India’s Mega Festivals' follows Masterchef Australia's former judge Gary Mehigan on his India tour as he eats beef in Kerala, goat intestines in Madurai, and kebabs in Delhi.
National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) shows 2 out of 3 Indians eat meat, but data shows huge variations in regions and between men and women. But, what’s best for nutrition?
Contrary to naysayers, the RSS practices what it preaches. It is closer to the Gandhian teaching of improving the individual morally and spiritually to change the external environment.
CM Yogi Adityanath claims that from being called a ‘bimaru’ state, UP is now among the top-3 economies in India. The 2026 Budget session of the UP assembly is currently underway.
This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.
A study from Israel in 2023 April is often misrepresented by non- vegetarians by claiming that the study suggested that plants feel pain. But the study rather discovered that plants release certain popping sounds due to cavitation which is basically the releasing of gas. Infact bacteria also release frequencies but that does not mean they have sentience, individual experiences of life, interpersonal relationships which many animals like dogs, cows, buffaloes, sheep, goat etc. have.
And seriously, ask yourself – if you had to make a choice between plucking a tomato from the plant and slitting the throat of a dog, what would you do?
If one honestly believes that plants also have sentience and feel pain and suffering, then it is going to be a very difficult decision to make.
The truth is – the moment one shifts one’s focus from hypocritical vegetarians and ultra-Hindu nationalists to the very carnal suffering of innocent animals, the right choice becomes very clear, not just in food but leather, fur and silk made clothes also.
Just think – why should we keep continuing with animal products simply because some vegetarians are hypocrites in their use of animal products.
We human beings are living in 21st century with all the luxuries that have made our living so carnally comforting yet we are treating animals like early men used to. They didn’t have the choice. Technology was not advanced enough even few decades ago if someone wanted to live animal-products free life, but today it is, not to every single person on globe but at least to a large no. of people.
Just imagine how many innocent lives can be saved and spared from enduring the most excruciating pain and suffering on their bodies if people look towards animals with the heartful look of compassion untainted by the views and actions of a hypocritical vegetarian middle class and the sectarian poison advanced by a political party.
Us and animals (whose flesh we eat and skin we use) – WHEN WE SUFFER PHYSICALLY, WE SUFFER AS EQUALS.
Please suggest those studies.
“Plants emit high frequency clicks when they stress distress”
–
A study from Israel in 2023 April is often misrepresented by non- vegetarians by claiming that the study suggested that plants feel pain. But the study rather discovered that plants release certain popping sounds due to cavitation which is basically the releasing of gas. Infact bacteria also release frequencies but that does not mean they have sentience, individual experiences of life, interpersonal relationships which many animals like dogs, cows, buffaloes, sheep, goat etc. have.
And seriously, ask yourself – if you had to make a choice between plucking a tomato from the plant and slitting the throat of a dog, what would you do?
If you honestly believe that plants also have sentience and feel pain and suffering, then it is going to be a very difficult decision to make.
The truth is – the moment one shifts one’s focus from hypocritical vegetarians and ultra-Hindu nationalists to the very carnal suffering of innocent animals, the right choice becomes very clear, not just in food but leather, fur and silk made clothes also.
Just think – why should we keep continuing with animal products simply because some vegetarians are hypocrites in their use of animal products.
We human beings are living in 21st century with all the luxuries that have made our living so carnally comforting yet we are treating animals like early men used to. They didn’t have the choice. Technology was not advanced enough even few decades ago if someone wanted to live animal-products free life, but today it is, not to every single person on globe but at least to a large no. of people.
Just imagine how many innocent lives can be saved and spared from enduring the most excruciating pain and suffering on their bodies if people look towards animals with the heartful look of compassion untainted by the views and actions of a hypocritical vegetarian middle class and the sectarian poison spreaded by that one political party.
Us and animals (whose flesh we eat and skin we use) – WHEN WE SUFFER PHYSICALLY, WE SUFFER AS EQUALS.
I was expecting Mr. Sanghvi to be more thoughtful, more reasoned and more well informed than the writing in this article. Not once in this article did Mr. Sanghvi ever mention the suffering of the animals in the food industry.
We kill more than 70 billion animals every single year as per the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. And it is primarily for our enjoyment i.e. taste buds.
I used to look forward to Mr. Sanghvi’s columns and videos. No longer. Really disappointed. Goodbye, Mr. Sanghvi.
Food habit is not about individual choice. That’s a way to white wash the reality.
It is a statement of power. Power over a hapless animal to spill blood, kill, and eat.
Else, it is a statement of Virtue, that, I choose to show compassion to fellow animals on the planet and choose to eat vegetables that nature gave in abundance for consumption and survival for me and my fellow animals, while making the planet more sustainable.
What about speciesism, isn’t it a broader perspective on casteism? It is no doubt that people who are compassionate and care about fellow living beings are more evolved souls. It’s only that others are unable to think beyond their levels of intellectual evolution.
Unfortunately Vir has just shown his shallow understanding of the subject. Definitely, veg is a better food and unlike non veg it doesn’t invoke violent behaviour. Just imagine india being a muslim or Christian country. We would have been starving and destroying nature with our food preferences
@ John – The killing of a plant and the killing of an animal, both lead to the destruction of life in some form, but I would suggest to you that these are qualitatively very different actions, with different outcomes. First, if we consider the case of plants, many times we can derive our sustenance from them without causing permanent damage, e.g., harvesting fruits and nuts. Even in cases where the plant itself is destroyed, its output, can often be stored without much effort for long periods of time, e.g., storing rice, wheat flour, dals, etc.. Compare this with the slaughter of an animal. Animals are much closer to humans in terms of their biology. They are mobile, appear alive, and can even communicate with us (to a degree). When an animal is killed, we can readily perceive the results of this action, namely suffering, blood, and a lifeless body, which cannot be stored for later consumption without much effort, e.g., refrigeration. Personally, I am not a vegetarian, but I understand the value of vegetarianism and aspire to it in later life.
You’ve got it all wrong Mr Singhvi – this be kind to animals forward is not a veg/non veg issue. It’s a Hindu Muslim issue. It’s being forwarded by people I know are non vegetarian.
Right below this it says Eid Mubarak – no brainier.
Also there is no such thing as strict vegetarian. You either are or you are not.
You don’t say I’m a strictly faithful husband. Either are -( or one dalliance) – or not.
It’s a black and white issue. No grey areas here.
Plants emit high frequency clicks when they stress distress – info available online from multiple studies. These need to be widely circulated to remove these notions of self righteousness of so called vegetarians.
Political dalals in old glorious days of UPA government. That business has died down under Modi. What can poor fellas do? They have to run their family, afterall.
Idiotic article based on imaginary grievances. If someone buys a goat or even a human being to save their lives nothing wrong. As for the castle argument, coastal Brahmins have been meat and fish eaters. To believe that present day Hindus follow Vedic beliefs or the gospels of Krishna or anyone else is living in cuckoo land. Indian belief systems have never been static and evolved over time for good or bad. Time this author pays attention to more important current issues rather than fighting illusory battles.
1) Calling devoted vegetarians as idiots is also a sign of superiority. 2) Vegetarianism has nothing to do with caste as Jains and many Sikhs who are vegetarians don’t follow the caste system. 3) West Bengal, Kashmir, Goa are states where Brahmins eat fish and meat. So how can you connect vegetarianism with caste? 4) Food purity exists among Jews, Christians, Muslims too in the form of Kosher, Halal regarding meat of certain kind of animals is prohibited. 5) Would Mr Sanghvi write on halal as discriminatory or is his liberalism afraid of Muslims?
A study from Israel in 2023 April is often misrepresented by non- vegetarians by claiming that the study suggested that plants feel pain. But the study rather discovered that plants release certain popping sounds due to cavitation which is basically the releasing of gas. Infact bacteria also release frequencies but that does not mean they have sentience, individual experiences of life, interpersonal relationships which many animals like dogs, cows, buffaloes, sheep, goat etc. have.
And seriously, ask yourself – if you had to make a choice between plucking a tomato from the plant and slitting the throat of a dog, what would you do?
If one honestly believes that plants also have sentience and feel pain and suffering, then it is going to be a very difficult decision to make.
The truth is – the moment one shifts one’s focus from hypocritical vegetarians and ultra-Hindu nationalists to the very carnal suffering of innocent animals, the right choice becomes very clear, not just in food but leather, fur and silk made clothes also.
Just think – why should we keep continuing with animal products simply because some vegetarians are hypocrites in their use of animal products.
We human beings are living in 21st century with all the luxuries that have made our living so carnally comforting yet we are treating animals like early men used to. They didn’t have the choice. Technology was not advanced enough even few decades ago if someone wanted to live animal-products free life, but today it is, not to every single person on globe but at least to a large no. of people.
Just imagine how many innocent lives can be saved and spared from enduring the most excruciating pain and suffering on their bodies if people look towards animals with the heartful look of compassion untainted by the views and actions of a hypocritical vegetarian middle class and the sectarian poison advanced by a political party.
Us and animals (whose flesh we eat and skin we use) – WHEN WE SUFFER PHYSICALLY, WE SUFFER AS EQUALS.
Please suggest those studies.
“Plants emit high frequency clicks when they stress distress”
–
A study from Israel in 2023 April is often misrepresented by non- vegetarians by claiming that the study suggested that plants feel pain. But the study rather discovered that plants release certain popping sounds due to cavitation which is basically the releasing of gas. Infact bacteria also release frequencies but that does not mean they have sentience, individual experiences of life, interpersonal relationships which many animals like dogs, cows, buffaloes, sheep, goat etc. have.
And seriously, ask yourself – if you had to make a choice between plucking a tomato from the plant and slitting the throat of a dog, what would you do?
If you honestly believe that plants also have sentience and feel pain and suffering, then it is going to be a very difficult decision to make.
The truth is – the moment one shifts one’s focus from hypocritical vegetarians and ultra-Hindu nationalists to the very carnal suffering of innocent animals, the right choice becomes very clear, not just in food but leather, fur and silk made clothes also.
Just think – why should we keep continuing with animal products simply because some vegetarians are hypocrites in their use of animal products.
We human beings are living in 21st century with all the luxuries that have made our living so carnally comforting yet we are treating animals like early men used to. They didn’t have the choice. Technology was not advanced enough even few decades ago if someone wanted to live animal-products free life, but today it is, not to every single person on globe but at least to a large no. of people.
Just imagine how many innocent lives can be saved and spared from enduring the most excruciating pain and suffering on their bodies if people look towards animals with the heartful look of compassion untainted by the views and actions of a hypocritical vegetarian middle class and the sectarian poison spreaded by that one political party.
Us and animals (whose flesh we eat and skin we use) – WHEN WE SUFFER PHYSICALLY, WE SUFFER AS EQUALS.
I was expecting Mr. Sanghvi to be more thoughtful, more reasoned and more well informed than the writing in this article. Not once in this article did Mr. Sanghvi ever mention the suffering of the animals in the food industry.
We kill more than 70 billion animals every single year as per the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. And it is primarily for our enjoyment i.e. taste buds.
I used to look forward to Mr. Sanghvi’s columns and videos. No longer. Really disappointed. Goodbye, Mr. Sanghvi.
Here’s the real truth.
Food habit is not about individual choice. That’s a way to white wash the reality.
It is a statement of power. Power over a hapless animal to spill blood, kill, and eat.
Else, it is a statement of Virtue, that, I choose to show compassion to fellow animals on the planet and choose to eat vegetables that nature gave in abundance for consumption and survival for me and my fellow animals, while making the planet more sustainable.
Vir Sanghvi is too shallow to know this.
What about speciesism, isn’t it a broader perspective on casteism? It is no doubt that people who are compassionate and care about fellow living beings are more evolved souls. It’s only that others are unable to think beyond their levels of intellectual evolution.
Unfortunately Vir has just shown his shallow understanding of the subject. Definitely, veg is a better food and unlike non veg it doesn’t invoke violent behaviour. Just imagine india being a muslim or Christian country. We would have been starving and destroying nature with our food preferences
@ John – The killing of a plant and the killing of an animal, both lead to the destruction of life in some form, but I would suggest to you that these are qualitatively very different actions, with different outcomes. First, if we consider the case of plants, many times we can derive our sustenance from them without causing permanent damage, e.g., harvesting fruits and nuts. Even in cases where the plant itself is destroyed, its output, can often be stored without much effort for long periods of time, e.g., storing rice, wheat flour, dals, etc.. Compare this with the slaughter of an animal. Animals are much closer to humans in terms of their biology. They are mobile, appear alive, and can even communicate with us (to a degree). When an animal is killed, we can readily perceive the results of this action, namely suffering, blood, and a lifeless body, which cannot be stored for later consumption without much effort, e.g., refrigeration. Personally, I am not a vegetarian, but I understand the value of vegetarianism and aspire to it in later life.
You’ve got it all wrong Mr Singhvi – this be kind to animals forward is not a veg/non veg issue. It’s a Hindu Muslim issue. It’s being forwarded by people I know are non vegetarian.
Right below this it says Eid Mubarak – no brainier.
Also there is no such thing as strict vegetarian. You either are or you are not.
You don’t say I’m a strictly faithful husband. Either are -( or one dalliance) – or not.
It’s a black and white issue. No grey areas here.
Plants emit high frequency clicks when they stress distress – info available online from multiple studies. These need to be widely circulated to remove these notions of self righteousness of so called vegetarians.
Political dalals in old glorious days of UPA government. That business has died down under Modi. What can poor fellas do? They have to run their family, afterall.
Great eye-opening article, but the people living in their r0tten fallacies will still be blind bhakts.
Idiotic article based on imaginary grievances. If someone buys a goat or even a human being to save their lives nothing wrong. As for the castle argument, coastal Brahmins have been meat and fish eaters. To believe that present day Hindus follow Vedic beliefs or the gospels of Krishna or anyone else is living in cuckoo land. Indian belief systems have never been static and evolved over time for good or bad. Time this author pays attention to more important current issues rather than fighting illusory battles.
1) Calling devoted vegetarians as idiots is also a sign of superiority. 2) Vegetarianism has nothing to do with caste as Jains and many Sikhs who are vegetarians don’t follow the caste system. 3) West Bengal, Kashmir, Goa are states where Brahmins eat fish and meat. So how can you connect vegetarianism with caste? 4) Food purity exists among Jews, Christians, Muslims too in the form of Kosher, Halal regarding meat of certain kind of animals is prohibited. 5) Would Mr Sanghvi write on halal as discriminatory or is his liberalism afraid of Muslims?