Kerala food war: Parties trade charges as long-time caterer ends association with school fest

“When the food of school students is sprinkled with seeds of communalism, I am afraid to take up the assignment next time. The kitchen of the school festival has been close to my heart over the years. It has been considered a treasure. Communal allegations perturb me and it is not right on my part to take up the task any more,’’ he said.

Earlier, Namboothiri, a Brahmin, said that he had no hesitation in serving non-vegetarian food, and could get his cooks to make the same if asked to by the Education Department.

After Education Minister V Sivankutty announced that they would serve non-vegetarian food from next year at the school festival, various Hindu organisations rallied behind Pazhayidam and his traditional vegetarian menu. Some cited the recent deaths blamed on food poisoning after consumption of Arabian non-vegetarian dishes to bolster their arguments.

Senior BJP leader Kummanam Rajasekharan said the LDF government in Kerala “has surrendered before religious extremists, who go by the dictates of terrorists”. “The government should withdraw from the move to keep Pazhayidam out over his caste. The Chief Minister should make clear whether extremists shape his government policy,” Rajasekharan said.

Opposition leader V D Satheesan accused the government of creating “a dangerous communal environment” around the school festival. “If the government wanted to introduce non-veg, why did it create a situation insulting the caterer over his caste? This issue has eclipsed the beauty of the festival. At any cost, we cannot agree with the food controversy which has polarised society,’’ the Congress leader said.

IUML general secretary and senior legislator K P A Majeed also called the communal controversy over food unfortunate. “The Education Minister should be blamed for bringing caste into food. The Left camps first raised the demand for non-vegetarian food at the festival. The minister encouraged the controversy by announcing that non-veg food would be introduced from next year. He should have shown restraint and made such an announcement only after deliberations at the government level,” Majeed said, adding that all that the row had achieved was “dividing society over food and caste”. “There should not be any sectarianism over food.”

Minister Sivankutty denied charges against the party, while admitting Pazhayidam should not have been blamed in this manner. “Those who have donned the mantle of revolutionaries are behind this controversy over caste. Participating students had not complained about the food. The criticism has no political angle, but only individual opinions of those who raised it,’’ he said.

A campaign against the caste of caterer Namboothiri, criticising “Brahminical hegemony” over the school festival – seen as mainly led by pro-Left circles – was a first for the gathering, whose 61st edition ended this week.

The rise of the BJP and apprehensions over the party enforcing its Hindutva agenda in the state with its high minority population was seen as one reason for politicisation of the issue. The other was the venue of the festival, Kozhikode, considered the capital of non-vegetarian food in the state. Sivankutty added fuel to the fire when he said that he would have liked to serve biryani to the children at the festival.

Earlier, Left outfits in the state have held beef festivals as a protest against BJP governments cracking down on cattle slaughter.