'What we eat is our freedom': Aaditya Thackeray slams KDMC over August 15 meat ban

Thackeray described the directive as an assault on personal freedom and demanded the suspension of the civic chief.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, on Tuesday, tore into the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) for ordering the closure of all slaughterhouses and meat shops on August 15. He described the directive as an assault on personal freedom and demanded the suspension of the civic chief.

“What people eat on Independence Day is their right and their freedom,” Thackeray said, accusing the civic administration of moral policing.

“They cannot tell us whether to eat veg or non-veg. We will definitely eat non-veg. We eat it in our house. Even during Navratri, our prasad has prawns and fish — because that is our tradition and our Hinduism. This is not about religion or national interest,” he remarked during an interaction with reporters.

The KDMC notice issued last week, signed by Deputy Commissioner (Licensing) Kanchan Gaikwad, imposes a 24-hour ban on slaughter and meat sales from midnight of August 14 to midnight of August 15. It has cited a long-standing civic resolution in place since 1988.

Thackeray lashed out, slamming the priorities of the administration, saying, “Bridges are collapsing, roads are in terrible shape, and instead of fixing them, the administration is busy banning food.”

Before Thackeray, NCP (SP) leaders too opposed the directive.

Jitendra Awhad, on Monday, slammed the move as “food policing” and accused the government of fuelling divisions between vegetarians and non-vegetarians. He has, in fact, announced plans to host a “mutton party” on Independence Day in an open show of defiance of the ban.

“On the day we got freedom, you are taking away our freedom to eat what we want,” Awhad told PTI.

Bhiwandi MP Suresh Mhatre has also opposed the restriction, calling it an attack on the traditional food habits of coastal communities like the Agri Koli, whose diets blend vegetarian and non-vegetarian fare.

Not everyone is, however, against the decision. Shiv Sena MLA Vishwanath Bhoir defended the KDMC’s order, saying, “People are not opposing the notice. What’s the issue if one doesn’t eat meat for a day? The Opposition only knows how to criticise.”

Meanwhile, according to the notice, violators would face action under sections 334, 336, and 394(A) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949. The civic body is currently under the administrative control of the state government, with the commissioner acting as a representative of the Devendra Fadnavis-led NDA dispensation.