'Shaheen Bagh 2.0': Biryani is 'Anti-national' Again after Visuals of Protesting Farmers Eating Go Viral

When anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protest demonstration was held at a stretch for weeks in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh locality, biryani became a point of attack to discredit the protests which was led by women. It has nearly been a year to those protests that were held through the cold winter nights, but biryani jibes continue to be made. As latest as in Sepetmber, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind ‘Kejriwal was “feeding Biryani to Shaheen Bagh protesters” during one of his campaign speeches in the capital.

Biryani was almost used as a synonym to imply that the protests were paid and planned to spread disharmony and misinformation over the CAA among the masses.

And now when protesting farmers from Punjab and Haryana are camped at Delhi border, it is a de javu of sorts happening as 'biryani' is being served to the protesters. Allegations of the farmer protests being incited by 'anti-national' elements and Khalistani ideologue were being made over the past few days. As videos of the protesters being served with a rice dish that looks like biryani are being shared, it has once again come under attack as the 'anti-national' food.

People who are against the protests are calling it a repeat of Shaheen Bagh protests, while others are rebuffing the attempts to discredit the protests with biryani debate.

Shaheen Bagh Caterers got thr Job back ....

— Vikas Raina ( ) (@VikasInExile) November 30, 2020

In another attempt to question he credibility of the farmer protests, actor Kangana Ranaut claimed on social media that the 90-year-old Bilkis from Delhi's Shaheen Bagh protests, better known to the world as "Dadi", was available for hire to make appearances in protests for "Rs 100". It all started when images of Bilkis Bano, the Shaheen Bagh protester who was named among Time Magazine's List of 100 Most Influential People in 2020, started being shared alongside the image of another old woman.

Kangana later deleted the post after backlash on social media.

Meanwhile, a stretch of the national highway at Singhu border turned into a mega kitchen on Friday evening as exhausted farmers camped on the road along with their tractors and cooked dinner following a long day of protest. Even as police permitted them entry into the national capital, the farmers refused to move to Nirankari ground at Burari where they were asked to continue their agitation against Centre's farm laws.

Some of the protesting farmers claimed that they were waiting for others who were stuck in Haryana. The tractors driven by farmers were loaded with ration and other food items. In the evening, the highway was lit by the warm glow of gas stoves on which they cooked different dishes, like parathas, daal and rajma-rice.

The generosity of the agitating farmers was at display as they served the food to protesters, passersby and anyone else asking for it. They were also carrying milk in large containers which was promptly boiled and consumed with food. After a long day of protest, farmers turned on the music systems onboard some brightly decorated tractor-trolleys and sang and danced along to songs.

FYI: Biryani is a dish of rice cooked with spices and mutton or chicken and is common in Muslim households, prepared on festive occasions. Even though vegetarian variants do exist, biryani enthusiasts deny its existence and prefer to call it pulao.