'Skip onion, potato, garlic' : Thane school's Paryushan notice sparks row

A school run by a BJP MLA in the district was on Thursday forced to withdraw a circular advising students not to carry root vegetables such as onion, garlic, potato and beetroot in their lunchboxes during the Paryushan period observed by the Jain community, as it triggered a controversy and backlash from local political parties including the MNS.

While the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) staged a protest, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said the 'restriction' was "worse than love jihad" and demanded that the government shut down the school.

MNS spokesperson Yogesh Khaire termed the circular a form of "food jihad".

Mira Bhayandar MLA Narendra Mehta, who runs the Seven Square Academy, said the school had only made a request to students to avoid these foods and not issued any directive.

The controversy began after the school posted a message on its WhatsApp groups requesting parents not to pack root vegetables in their children's lunchboxes for the duration of 'Paryushan Parva'.

It also said that during the eight-day holy period, the school canteen would serve food prepared without onions, garlic and potatoes.

The MNS took exception to the message after some parents flagged it.

MNS activists led by the party's Thane district unit chief Avinash Jadhav staged a protest outside the school, with the demonstrators wearing garlands of onions and garlic around their necks trying to enter the premise

Jadhav met the school principal and demanded withdrawal of the circular by the evening, and warned that an "MNS-style" agitation involving members of various communities would be launched if action was not taken.

Later, the MNS's Mira Bhayandar assembly constituency president Sachin Popale announced that the school management had withdrawn the circular from its official portal.

"This is the result of the MNS raising its voice. Following our strong stand, the school administration and MLA Narendra Mehta withdrew the notice. Raising your voice makes a difference," he said.

The school management is yet to come out with an official statement regarding the exact reasons behind removing the circular.

Popale questioned how the school could "dictate" what children should carry in their lunchboxes.

"Who is the school management to decide what Marathi students and children should eat? If a Marathi entrepreneur opens a school tomorrow and asks students of all communities to bring chicken, mutton, or eggs during Gatari (a local festival), would that be accepted?" he asked.

"Today, the government, municipal mayors, and now school administrations are trying to dictate what our children carry in their tiffins," Popale alleged.

 

MLA Mehta, however, denied the allegations of compulsion, and urged political parties not to politicise the festival.

 

"Paryushan is a sacred festival centered around 'ahimsa' (non-violence) and compassion for all living beings. The message sent by the school was merely a request to parents, not a mandatory order or compulsion. We simply asked students and parents to refrain from packing non-essential or unhealthy items for these eight days as part of healthy eating habits," he said.

Scientific principles back traditions such as drinking warm water or following light vegetarian diets, and similar advisories urging people to avoid non-vegetarian food are routinely communicated during festivals like Ganeshotsav and Navratri, he added.

 

Notably, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation had passed a resolution imposing a temporary ban on meat and fish sales during Paryushan.

Sanjay Raut said religion should be confined to one's house. "You don't eat garlic and onion. If such restrictions are imposed in the name of religion then it is worse than love jihad," he said, terming the "restrictions" on food a "challenge to Maharashtra".

Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said people from the Jain community have been living in Marathwada for many decades. But there has never been any conflict

"Jainism is a religion of peace, but pressuring anyone with (rules of) one's religion is only violence....Religion should not be imposed on others," he said.