The All India Hindu Mahasabha has joined the criticism against actors Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor while calling for a ban on the entry of all beef eaters into Hindu temples.
On Tuesday, the actors, along with the film’s director Ayan Mukherjee, were in Ujjain to promote the multilingual movie Brahmastra: Part 1 Shiva. They were not allowed entry into the Mahakaleshwar temple by local Bajrang Dal members.
Supporting the Bajrang Dal’s act, the All India Hindu Mahasabha chairman Chakrapani Maharaj said, “No beef eater can be allowed inside a temple”.
There have been calls to boycott the movie on several grounds. One of these is that Ranbir Kapoor had, in a food show aired in 2011, described himself as a ‘big, beef boy’. Alia Bhatt’s comment that those who did not want to watch her movie should not, added fuel to the fire.
As the movie’s release date (September 9) nears, the hashtag Boycott Brahmastra has been trending. On Wednesday, at 2.30 pm there were 152,000 tweets bearing the hashtag, while Ranbir Kapoor, Brahmastra and Ujjain were also trending.
Chakrapani Maharaj said that it was the duty of all Hindu organizations to ensure that no beef eaters be allowed entry inside temples.
“In Sanatan dharma the cow is our mother. All our Gods and Goddesses live in the cow. How can we allow anyone who eats our mother’s meat into our temples”, said Chakrapani Maharaj adding that it had become a ‘fashion’ for ‘so-called secular’ Hindus to make provocative statements.
Chakrapani Maharaj also brought up the late actor Rishi Kapoor- father of Ranbir Kapoor. The senior Kapoor who passed away in April 2020 was a self-proclaimed foodie. Chakrapani Maharaj said that he would be in hell, as heaven did not have any place for beef eaters.
He said that unless celebrities apologize publicly and seek forgiveness, Hindu organisations around the world would ensure that they are kept outside temples.
“Such people carry negative energy and spoil the aura of a temple”, said Chakrapani.
The Mahasabha had earlier supported the call for the boycott of Laal Singh Chaddha starring Aamir Khan and had issued a statement supporting the ‘patriots’ who were boycotting the movie. It also called for a boycott of Bollywood in its entirety.
