A radical Hindu organisation today demanded the closure of all McDonald's outlets in India, accusing it of surreptitiously using beef extracts to lace its popular french fries.
The rightwing Hindu Shiv Sena (Lord Shiva's Army) said that fast food giant had insulted the country's religious beliefs by using beef flavouring."The use of beef in french fries is an attack on the religious sentiments of Hindus, and we don't believe McDonald's clarifications of not using beef extract in its french fries in India," said Jai Bhagwan Goyal, the chief of Shiv Sena's New Delhi chapter. Cows are revered in India and their slaughter has been banned by law.
McDonald's however denied the allegations and offered to open up its vegetarian options to inspection."Our vegetarian menu in India does not contain beef flavour and we are ready for testing by inspection agencies," McDonald's-India said from its New Delhi headquarters.
The Shiv Sena party, which is affiliated to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's ruling Hindu nationalist BJP party, also staged a noisy demonstration in front of the international chain's local headquarters in New Delhi today.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Forum), another powerful Hindu organisation, joined the Sena in rejecting McDonald's claims that it did not use beef products.
"Since this company has lied in the United States, there is a possibility of the same being done here," VHP General Secretary Acharya Giriraj Kishore said, referring to McDonald's recent admission in the US that its recipe indeed included beef extract.
McDonald's has already pumped four billion rupees (87 million dollars) into its Indian operations and plans to double the investment in the next two years.
AFP