VIDEO: Both BJP and Rijiju distance themselves from his beef quote

As reported by The Indian Express, Rijiju, during a visit to Aizawl on Tuesday, had said: “This is a democratic country. Sometimes, some statements are made which are not palatable… We have to honour the sentiments of each place and each location. For example, I eat beef, I’m from Arunachal Pradesh, can somebody stop me? So let us not be touchy about somebody’s practices.”

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He was responding to a question on Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s comment that those who can’t do without beef should go to Pakistan or any part of the world where it is available.

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But on Wednesday, Rijiju, in a statement released by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), claimed he was “misquoted”.

“I was misquoted. When the civil societies and press asked me if they have to go to Pakistan due to beef consumption, I said, ‘India is a secular country and food habits cannot be stopped but the Hindu faith and sentiments must be respected in Hindu majority states in the same way as the other communities have rights in their own dominant states’,” he said.

However, the audio recording of the press conference confirms that he said what was reported. The link to the recording of the press conference is available on www.indianexpress.com and https://soundcloud.com/ adam-halliday/mos-kiren-rijijus-aizawl-press-conference-audio-recording-indian-express.