For the self-employed, every day matters.
Whether you’re a tomato seller, a milkman, or a butcher — your daily earnings decide whether there’s food on the table. You can’t simply declare a “holiday” for someone’s livelihood.
And yet, in several Indian states, we see this bizarre and selective rule: “No meat sale” or “No butchering” on Hindu festivals.”
The Myth of Hindu Vegetarianism
Let’s get one fact straight — no Hindu religious scripture has ever mandated complete vegetarianism.
• In the Rig Veda, animal sacrifice (yajna) was common, and meat was consumed afterwards as prasada.
• The Mahabharata mentions that King Rantideva offered thousands of cattle in sacrifice and distributed the meat.
• Even the Manusmriti — often cited by traditionalists — states: “There is no sin in eating meat… for the flesh of sacrificial animals is considered pure.” (Manusmriti 5.31)
• Lord Rama in the Ramayana and the Pandavas in the Mahabharata are depicted as hunters, consuming venison and other meats.
Vegetarianism among Hindus became more prominent only later, influenced by Jainism’s strict non-violence (ahimsa) and Buddhism’s monastic dietary codes. Even then, it was adopted only by certain castes and communities, not the majority.
The Livelihood Question
Even if there are seven major Hindu festivals in a year — why should a butcher lose his entire day’s income on those days?
• Will the government compensate him?
• Will his children eat ideology for dinner?
If this principle is valid, why not ban the sale of tomatoes, onions, milk, curds, or ghee during those same festivals? Why selectively punish one trade because it offends a section’s dietary sentiments?
The Tyranny of the Few
This is not about protecting Hinduism. It’s about a small but vocal section of Hindus imposing their lifestyle choices on everyone else.
A Hindu who chooses not to eat meat on a festival day already has the freedom to abstain. He doesn’t need the government to act as a dietary nanny.
A truly free society respects individual choice, not blanket bans in the name of faith.
History vs. Hypocrisy
Ironically, the very religion on whose name these bans are enforced has a rich tradition of meat consumption in its ancient texts. Today’s bans are less about Dharma and more about selective morality.
If tomorrow a group claims that eating tomatoes is “inauspicious” on certain days, will we expect tomato sellers to shut shop too?
Final Thought
The freedom to eat, sell, and earn should not be dictated by selective religious sentiment. Respecting festivals is one thing — policing livelihoods is another.
If a person’s faith is genuine, they don’t need the government to enforce it for them. Hinduism has survived for thousands of years not through bans, but through adaptability and personal responsibility.