Political Line newsletter: Down Their Throats - The HinduUpdated - September 13, 2026 10:41 am IST(This is the latest edition of the Political Line newsletter curated by Varghese K. George. The Political Line newsletter is India’s political landscape explained every week. You can subscribe here to get the newsletter in your inbox every Friday.)It is one thing to think of one’s own dietary habits as superior, and quite another to shove that preference down the throats of others. Dietary habits have evolved over centuries, depending on the availability of certain foods, the genetic makeup of populations, the climate, the cost, and a region’s economic prosperity. For individuals too, tastes develop. For instance, some people may find beef delicious while others may find eating it revolting; the same is true of paneer. People also eat, or do not eat, certain things for religious reasons, considering them too sacred or too polluted for human consumption. Considering that nobody would eat anything dirty, the logic behind the link between food and faith might be that it must occupy that exact sweet spot where it is neither sacred nor polluting. Tomatoes may just be universal in this regard, perhaps?Food is causing serious heartburn across many places this week. The BJP in West Bengal is caught in a bind as its band of Hindutva soldiers from the Hindi heartland want to use the newly acquired state power to purify Durga Puja. On September 6, Dhirendra Krishna Shastri of Madhya Pradesh’s Bageshwar Dham created controversy by appealing to Hindus not to sell non-vegetarian food near Durga Puja pandals at an event in Howrah. He described those who consumed non-vegetarian food as not religious and pakhandis (hypocrites).Eating non-vegetarian food during Durga Puja in West Bengal has long been a tradition. Before consuming non-vegetarian food became a community event, many aristocratic families practised goat sacrifice, using the meat to prepare offerings to Goddess Durga, a practice rooted in the Shakti tradition.Suvendu Adhikari, the West Bengal Chief Minister, meanwhile defended Dhirendra Shastri’s remarks, saying that Mr. Shastri had merely expressed his views and had not imposed them on anyone. Taking offence at the burning of Mr. Shastri’s photographs and effigies, he urged the State police to arrest those responsible.BJP State president Samik Bhattacharya, however, said Bengalis would continue to eat fish and meat during Durga Puja, and several other party leaders supported him. The Chief Minister visited Kalighat on Thursday evening on the occasion of Kaushiki Amavasya, considered auspicious by Shakta Hindus, and a video showed him sharing a prasad meal that included fish. For the Chief Minister and the BJP, it is a case of hunting with the hound and running with the hare.In Thane, a school owned by BJP MLA Narendra Mehta issued a circular asking students not to bring non-vegetarian food to school during the eight-day Jain festival of Paryushan. It also asked students to avoid onions, garlic, potatoes and other underground vegetables, which are subject to dietary restrictions in Jainism. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), meanwhile, objected to the circular, arguing that it imposed the dietary restrictions of one religion on students belonging to others, and demanded that the school withdraw it. Far away in Canada, police in Surrey, British Columbia, arrested an Indian-origin landlady after her tenant complained of abuse and threats over the tenant’s choice of food. Multiple clips circulating on social media show the landlady in a heated argument with tenants who were cooking beef. In one of the videos, she can be heard abusing the tenants and throwing food off the barbecue.Food is not the only thing making this festival season taste bad. In Maharashtra, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) called for Muslims to be excluded from garba events during the Navratri festival. However, Amruta Fadnavis, the Chief Minister’s wife, argued that there was nothing wrong with Muslims participating. Similarly, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale opposed calls to exclude Muslims from garba events. He said India is governed by a Constitution that guarantees equal rights to people of all religions.Federalism Tract: Notes on DiversitySIR: The Present and the Future of StatelessnessTension is brewing in Arunachal Pradesh over the alleged inclusion of the Chakma and Hajong communities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The predominantly Buddhist Chakmas and Hindu Hajongs, displaced from the Chittagong Hill Tracts of erstwhile East Pakistan, were resettled by the Centre in Arunachal Pradesh in the 1960s. The All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU), along with other local organisations, has protested the possible inclusion in electoral rolls of Chakmas and Hajongs who settled in Arunachal Pradesh after 2006. It has demanded the immediate suspension of the SIR in areas with Chakma and Hajong populations. Many among these communities remain stateless.Diverting forest lands The Centre thinks the Forest Rights Act has “no provision for Gram Sabha consent” for the diversion of forest land for other purposes. An office memorandum to this effect in the Tribal Affairs Ministry drew intense criticism from Opposition leaders, Adivasi organisations and tribal rights activists. Union Tribal Affairs Secretary Ranjana Chopra has now said that community rights have the potential to “strengthen gram sabha-led forest governance,” but that position too does not end the controversy over the issueThe Ladakh Chapter The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has proposed a new clause, K, under Article 371 for Ladakh. Article 371 currently contains special provisions, designated from A to J, for Maharashtra, Gujarat, Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Sikkim, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka, addressing specific regional aspects of governance. The proposed Article 371K would enable Ladakh to have its own elected body. According to a civil society representative who discussed the proposal with the Centre, the body would have legislative powers over land, culture and language, forests, the environment, natural resources, and other subjects reserved for the Union Territory. With no written draft of the proposals available, there is little clarity on what exactly is in store.Published - September 11, 2026 09:56 pm ISTSign in to unlock member-only benefits!Access 10 free stories every monthSave stories to read laterAccess to comment on every storySign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single clickGet notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products${ ind + 1 } ${ device }Last active - ${ la }