The issue of beef ban has become a hot burning topic across India with unfortunate incident in Dadri even making international headlines and Kerala is no exception to it. On one side there are students and lecturer Deepa Nishanth who are supporting the beef fest in Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur, Kerala. And on the other, ABVP and Yuva Morcha are demanding that the college take action against her.

Now, activist and author Rahul Easwar has been attacked in a college in Kerala for not supporting the beef fest. This on a day when a MLA in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was attacked by BJP MLAs for hosting a beef party.

Speaking to dna, Rahul says that he had gone to MSM college in Kayamkulam for an event where he was supposed to speak on cyber security and pre-marital education.

When he came out of the lecture, Easwar saw that the college gates were being closed and he was stopped by around 25 students. They asked Easwar to support the beef fest and he flatly refused stating that he was neither supporting the beef fest nor the pork fest. He was then heckled, abused, stones were thrown at him and his car was vandalised.

Easwar tells dna, “I suspect it was planned attack because when I went into the college to give my lecture there was no issue. I have been voicing my opinion on various TV channels that I don’t support the beef fest or the pork fest and I think this is as a result of that. Can’t I live in Kerala without supporting the beef fest? I believe in Article 48 of the Indian Constitution. On one hand, we have cultural fascism and this is just counter-cultural fascism from the Left wing which I totally oppose. We don’t need beef fests or pork fests but we need a middle ground.”

Attack on me & Car got smashed..raising slogans for Beef Festival in Kerala. DYSP Police registers FIR pic.twitter.com/GuOXYaVBjP October 8, 2015

Attackers shouted that they will only let me go if I support beef festival and cow slaughter. is this not left wing fascism ?? — Rahul Easwar (@RahulEaswar) October 8, 2015

Easwar goes on to add, “Some people are making this attack on me as a Hindu-Muslim issue. It is absolutely nothing of the sort. The college I went to is a Muslim college and the college principal, Professor Shaik Ahmed, has been extremely helpful and cooperative. He called up and apologised for what happened.” He also stated that he has filed a police complaint and the police have arrested a person in connection with the attack on him.