Annoyed with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s ‘support’ for those who eat beef, more than 12,000 priests at Jagannath Temple are gearing up to prevent her from entering the shrine on Wednesday.
Speaking to News18 over the telephone from Puri, Somanath Khuntia, secretary of Sri Jagannath Sevayat Sammilani said, “Several times we have heard her make statements that there should not be any ban on beef consumption. We also saw her many times offering Namaz at a mosque during Muslim festivals. All these are against the culture of Lord Jagannath. We will not allow her to visit the Jagannath temple at any cost.”
He said, “We don’t want someone to impure our Lord Jagannath Temple. She is openly supporting beef consumption. Last year, she said consumption of beef is not wrong. It shows that she may have tried beef. As per the temple’s rules, such people are not allowed inside the premises. We are going to stage a demonstration and will block the temple’s entry point.”
On Tuesday morning, Khuntia and his supporters were detained after they raised slogans against Mamata Banerjee. They were released later in the day.
Source : News18
