The controversy surrounding laddu prasadam of the world-famous Lord Venkateshwara temple at Tirumala is the most unfortunate. Traditionally, Indians have been most sensitive about what they consume. In the past, the British government’s attempt to ignore this sentiment had resulted in the Great Revolt of 1857. If the report that alleges mixing of beef fat or fish oil in laddu — which devout Hindus hold in great reverence — is true, it will be considered even more blasphemous than the British greasing cartridges with cow and pig fat.
According to J. Shyamala Rao, the executive officer of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the administrative body of the Tirumala temple, the temple authorities had sent the ghee supplied by Tamil Nadu-based A.R. Dairy after May 15 to the National Dairy Development Board in Gujarat for testing. The testing found ghee to have been contaminated with several impurities, which include beef fat, pig fat and fish oil.
Unlike elsewhere in the world, vegetarianism in India is profoundly linked with one’s religious beliefs and each temple follows its own traditions, which must be invariably respected by everyone, whether they subscribe to such philosophy or not. However, the root cause of concern in this matter is that people have been fed something that they would loathe to consume surreptitiously — which violates the Constitution’s fundamental right that guarantees its citizens freedom of choice. This is, therefore, a grave matter of concern and cannot be taken lightly. It is commendable that the state government and the Central government have taken note of the issue.
Nevertheless, there has been an attempt in the social media to blame the previous state government in Andhra Pradesh led by the YSR Congress for this criminal conspiracy. The Opposition party refuted the allegations calling it a part of the Telugu Desam government’s strategy to annihilate its political future.
As the stakes on both sides are understandably high, the issue requires the most impartial probe by a non-governmental panel headed by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court as the issue concerns the fundamental rights of nearly 100 crores of Hindus as well as the democratic right of a political party to function.
