A police notice asking meat and biryani shop owners to shut down their stalls in the wake of Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations has kicked up a controversy in Tamil Nadu’s Kanchipuram. In the notice, J Vinayagam, Inspector of Police, Shiva Kanchi P1 police station, has asked all meat and biryani shop owners in the Sengazhuneerodai Street and Kanchi Sankara Mutt localities to close their shops on September 2 and 4 to avoid issues during the processions to be held as part of the festival. Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations are scheduled to take place in Kanchipuram from August 31.
Ahead of the festival, police officials across the state had convened meetings with the organisers, and discussed the guidelines to be followed during the installations of Vinayagar idols in the public place and to ensure the smooth conduct of the festival and processions. In Kanchipuram, the meeting was held at the Kanchipuram district police office. District Superintendent of Police M Sudhakar had chaired the meeting. Though TNM had tried to contact Sudhakar and District Collector M Aarthi regarding the demand to shut down shops, they did not respond to messages.
It is to be noted that over the last months, biryani and meat shops have frequently been in the headlines in Tamil Nadu in connection with one politically coloured controversy or another. Recently, the absence of the beef biryani delicacy from a food fest organised by the government in Chennai had triggered a discussion in this regard. After the issue was highlighted on social media platforms, beef biryani stalls were set up on the second day of the fest.
Besides, earlier this year, the Tirupattur district administration had announced the Ambur Biryani Thiruvizha 2022, a three-day biryani festival, which was alleged to have deliberately avoided beef and pork biryani from its menu. Eventually, the festival was postponed due to the forecast of heavy rains on May 13, and never took off after that.