Devendra Fadnavis’ 8-point response to Rajdeep Sardesai’s open letter on meat ban and more

In a strong response to senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai’s open letter on the Mumbai meat ban, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has slammed the media for blowing the issue out of proportion and clarified that it was the 2004 Congress government that initiated this.

In his open letter, Rajdeep had raised concerns about the present government’s way of functioning in regard to various issues like the 2-day meat ban, the Sheena Bora murder case, implementation of sedition and the farmer suicides.

On the controversial meat ban issue, Rajdeep Sardesai wrote that by banning meat, the only channel of trade for the farmers was stopped thus augmenting their trauma from drought. To all this and more, the Maharashtra CM has given answers in another open letter. Both letters feature in the Hindustan Times.

Here’s a look at some of the highlights of Fadnavis’ open letter:

1. The Chief Minister at the outset cleared the fact that it wasn’t the current government that brought about the ban, but the Congress led government did, in 2004, which is still being followed in the state.

2. He also stressed that additional days of ban were the independent decisions of the municipal corporations like Mumbai and Mira-Bhaindar and not the state government.

 3. Regarding the meat ban, he has also added in the end of the letter, that while some (like Mr.Sardesai ) are worried about a piece of meat going missing on their plates, the prerogative of the government is to give basic food, like roti and rice, to the farmers.

 4. On the Rakesh Maria transfer case, the CM said that it’s the government’s right to bring in early transfers and this was done to avoid a transfer of police commissioners amidst commending festivals.

 5. The CM also answered Rajdeep’s interpretation of sedition as considered by the current government citing, the definition of the word stays loyal to that given by the ‘hon’ble high court’ and hasn’t been deviated from.

 6. The CM also took the opportunity to praise the water conservation initiative by the present government that has made more than 6,000 villages self-sufficient, which, according to him, the media hasn’t bothered to take account of.

 7. Fadnavis ends the letter, laying bare his motives towards selfless work and improving the condition of his ‘annadata’ (farmers) as soon as would be possible, which he cites is his ‘mission’ and not mere ‘profession’.

 8. The CM in the letter takes a dig at both Rajdeep Sardesai as a representative of the media and the media as a whole for biased reporting on various issues regarding the present government.

Read the entire letter by the Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis here.

Also read:

Why you should sympathise with the anti-beef ban brigade

Sheena Bora murder mystery: Alfred Hitchcock would’ve relished this thriller in the making