Rain effect: Biryani Festival put off

A 3-day ‘Ambur Biryani Festival’ slated to begin on Friday was postponed indefinitely by the Tirupattur district administration citing the possibility of rains amid a row over a ban on beef and pork biriyani at the event.

Ambur, a town near Vellore in north Tamil Nadu is famous for its biryani. Non-vegetarian connoisseurs visiting Ambur, situated in the midst of a flourishing leather and tannery industry, rarely complete their trip without gulping down a plate of piping hot biryani with succulent meat that is famed to melt in the mouth.

Therefore, when the district administration publicised the conduct of the Ambur Biryani Festival with the image of Chief Minister MK Stalin and his late father M Karunanidhi, many were excited. However, shortly thereafter a controversy erupted as the administration said it would not allow beef and pork biryani to be served at the festival. Instead, people could partake of chicken, mutton, fish and prawn biryani.

Considering Ambur has a significant presence of Muslims as well as daily wagers from the oppressed sections, there was opposition to the decision to ban beef biryani in particular as pork is rarely used in the spicy rice dish.

Tirupattur Collector Amar Kushwaha, however, defended the decision saying he wanted to avoid a confrontation two groups had represented, one asking for beef biryani and the other pork biryani. Stating he was not against any dish, he said it was decided to leave out beef and pork as it would hurt the “religious sentiments of Hindus and Muslims.”

The collector said since biryani was not served free at the fest, those preferring to eat beef biryani could partake of it outside the stalls in the restaurants in the town. However, Dalit and Muslim activists opposed his argument. Vanni Arasu, deputy general secretary of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, an ally of the ruling DMK, questioned the decision saying this went against social justice and the “Dravidian model of governance” propagated by the ruling party. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu State Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes issued a notice to the Collector questioning the exclusion of beef biryani. “You are required to submit your remarks as to why the same shall not be taken as a discrimination on communal basis, and initiate action for such an official discrimination,” the Commission said.

Meanwhile, prediction of heavy rains over the next two days, the administration said the biryani festival was being postponed.