The food to be served at the 87th Akhila Bharatha Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in Mandya has become the subject of controversy after organisers introduced a rule prohibiting the sale of meat, along with alcohol and tobacco at the venue. The incident has led to allegations that an attempt is being made to portray a meat-based diet as inferior while holding up vegetarian food as superior.
The 87th edition of the Akhila Bharatha Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, an annual Kannada literature festival, will be held between December 20 and 22 in Mandya. It is organised by the Kannada Sahitya Parishat, a private body that receives state support in the form of grants. This year, the Karnataka government has allotted Rs 25 crore in aid. Various government officials and MLAs are also part of the festival’s organising committee.
The controversy began in the first week of December, when the organisers issued a notice saying that the sale of “meat dishes”, alcohol, and tobacco would be prohibited at the venue. The rules were posted on the Kannada Sahitya Parishat’s website but were later taken down.
On Monday, December 9, several organisations in Mandya staged a protest under the banner of the Federation of Progressive Organisations against the notice. They argued that the clubbing of meat with alcohol and tobacco reflected a bias against meat, which is the diet of a majority of people in the state.
During the protest in front of the Mandya Deputy Commissioner’s office, the group ate eggs and, among other things, raised the slogan: “Beleya jote mooLey irali, happaLada jote kabab irali, kosambari jote egg burji irali, mudde jote boTi irali” (Let there be bones along with lentils, kababs with papad, egg burji with kosambari, liver with mudde). They demanded that meat dishes be served along with vegetarian fare at the Sammelana as well as all government-organised events.
When asked why they were demanding that meat dishes be served, Krishne Gowda, one of the participants in the protest, said, “Why is this question only asked to meat-eaters? Why do people never ask why vegetarian food is being served? Brahminical hegemony has made us all think that vegetarian food is universal, when in fact, it is the food of a small minority, while the majority of people in Karnataka and across the country eat meat. By equating meat dishes with alcohol and tobacco, they’re saying that meat dishes are inferior.”
Data from the National Family Health Survey-4 and other sources, compiled by journalist Rukmini S in her book Whole Numbers and Half Truths, shows that only a third to a quarter of India’s population is vegetarian.
In Karnataka, 87% of people said they ate eggs, chicken, fish, or meat—the lowest among southern states. In Kerala, 99% of people said they eat meat, followed by 98% in Tamil Nadu, and 97% in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Mahesh Joshi, president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat, has said that the Parishat had nothing to do with the issue. He said that food arrangements are handled by the food committee, which is headed by Srirangapatna MLA AB Ramesha Bandisiddegowda. Ramesha could not be reached for a comment despite multiple attempts.
Santhosh G, a member of Jagruta Karnataka who was also part of the protest, said that meat has never been served at any of the previous 86 editions of the Sammelana. “Many people argue that this is a trivial issue, that a literature festival should discuss culture and literature. But food does not exist in a vacuum. The question of food is a political one, and some foods are considered high and some low. All food cultures should be respected.”
He added that many people have come together to form Baadoota Balaga, a WhatsApp group, to take the issue forward. ‘BaaDu’ is a word for meat in the Mandya region and ‘baaDoota balaga’ literally means a ‘team for meat meals’. Santhosh said the WhatsApp group has members from Mandya, Mysuru, and Ramnagara districts.
“If they don’t serve meat dishes at the Sammelana, we will raise money and bring food to serve it at the venue ourselves,” Santhosh told TNM.
To serve or not to serve meat
These developments have sparked a debate in the state, with several arguments being made for and against the serving of meat.
Kannada writer Jagadish Koppa, who has authored several books on MK Gandhi and is considered a progressive voice, lambasted the demand for meat dishes to be served at the Sammelana. In a post on Facebook, he argued that the demand was unreasonable because vegetarian food was “universal.”
He said that he has worked with institutions such as the Kendra Sahitya Academy, Karnataka Sahitya Academy, and Kuvempu Bhasha Bharathi Authority, and has attended many events organised by these institutions. Jagadish said, “Since these institutions organise secular and caste-neutral programmes, it is a practice to serve vegetarian food, which is commonly eaten by all classes of people. This is the case because these are not private events.”
“I, who eat meat thrice a week, have never demanded that a particular kind of food be served at any public programme,” he added. He further maintained that he does not attend the Akhila Bharatha Kannada Sahitya Sammelana because of its “carnival-like” character, even though he participates as a speaker at such events at the district level.
A literary critic and writer, who spoke to TNM requesting anonymity, said, “The demands made by the protesters are relevant and important. What the organisers did was unacceptable. Mahesh Joshi too washed his hands of the issue, saying that it is up to the food committee to decide (and that is not the right way to go about things).”
However, the critic also pointed out that there were bigger problems plaguing the Sammelana. “The Sammelana has no focus. They spend so much money, but what are they doing? They get together, talk, and read poetry… But there are so many challenges before us, before Karnataka’s society. Secularism is on the wane, autocratic tendencies are rising, but such issues don’t appear to be of concern for the Sammelana. We need to ask ourselves what the role of literature is with regard to social issues. What are the themes they are going to discuss? We still don’t know,” he said.
The Parishat website has still not published a schedule detailing the list of speakers and the topics they will address during the festival.
The previous edition of the Sammelana, held in Haveri in 2023, was strongly criticised for not including Muslim writers. Several well-known writers organised an alternative event called the Jana Sahitya Sammelana (People’s Literature Festival) in protest, also criticising the Sammelana for not being responsive to social issues.
Jana Sahitya Sammelana addresses the ‘politics of meat’ in India
Recalling his participation at the Jana Sahitya Sammelana, the critic said, “We discussed many important issues at that event. Meat was served (as a part of the organisers’ food politics).”
Writer SG Siddaramaiah told TNM that he would welcome the move to serve meat dishes at the Sammelana. However, he also expressed other reservations about the event, stating that as long as Mahesh Joshi was associated with the Kannada Sahitya Parishat, he would have nothing to do with either the Parishat or the Sammelana.
Mahesh Joshi, a former Doordarshan director, was elected President of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat with BJP backing in November 2021. However, he had dismissed concerns about his political leanings, stating that his ideology was Kannada.
Actor and activist Chethan Ahimsa told the media that food cultures are diverse and expressed his support for eggs being served at the Sammelana. “It is important that such discussions take place. People have the right to protest. We should have discussions and seminars about food practices. I will support the inclusion of eggs (at the Sammelana).”
Bengaluru-based activist and writer Shivasundar told TNM, “The Kannada language is an extension of the life of people in Karnataka, where over 80% of people eat meat. So the kind of food served should not matter to a language conference.”
But if we go beyond the surface, Shivasundar said, the protest demanding meatarian fare at the Sammelana posed the biggest challenge to the event in decades. He argued that the protest was important because it challenged the status-quo of the Sammelana, which has remained largely unchanged since the 1990s. Although there is an unwritten ban on serving meat, he pointed out that this was the first time that the organisers—effectively the government—had openly stated it.
“They banned the sale of meat and equated it with alcohol and tobacco. This is a Brahminical notion of culture. By doing this, they are implying that meat is inferior and that vegetarian food is official and national in nature. This is part of larger systematic efforts to re-establish a Brahminical hegemony, and the Congress government is tacitly supporting it. Brahminical culture is a big threat to Kannada identity,” Shivasundar said.
The writer also emphasised that the issue should be considered in the larger context of meat bans. He pointed out that it was the Devaraj Urs government that first issued a circular in 1979, banning the sale of meat on 11 days, including Ambedkar Jayanti, Martyrs’ Day (January 30), and Buddha Jayanti.
In 2012, the Karnataka High Court had asked the state government to explain the basis for issuing circulars that banned the sale of meat on certain days, including festivals. The petitioner in the case had contended that not all people celebrate all festivals. “Imposing a total ban of meat sale on all communities / religions is nothing but curtailing fundamental rights by way of unreasonable restrictions.”
“The Court had asked the state government the Constitutional and legal premise on which it had issued orders for such bans. That question still remains,” Shivasundar said.
Writer Banjagere Jayaprakash criticised the incident, stating that it was “natural” for people in Mandya to protest the Sammelana’s conflation of a meatarian diet with substances such as tobacco and alcohol. “Meat has never been served at any Sahitya Sammelana, but this is the first time they have openly stated it,” he said.
He added that these developments must be seen in the context of the BJP and Sangh Parivar’s surreptitious attempts to push the narrative that meat is somehow inferior to vegetarian food. “This is the backdrop in which progressive and Left groups are dismayed and protesting. What happened was an attempt to project one type of food as legitimate and the other as illegitimate. When the government has sanctioned funds for this event, such unlawful terminology should not be used (to describe food). The protestors’ demand is just,” Jayaprakash said.