Mamata backs Kajol on beef dish controversy

Kolkata, May 3 (IANS) In a reference to Bollywood actress Kajol, who clarified after being trolled on social media that she had eaten buffalo meat and not beef, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said it was a dangerous situation where even popular actors were forced to explain what they have consumed.

Addressing a public meeting in North Dinajpur district, the Trinamool Congress supremo said that actors had to come up with the clarification as an environment of fear prevails in the country.

"A popular actress, I don't want to take her name, but she has done a lot of films opposite Shah Rukh Khan, had to give clarification on Twitter that she had buffalo meat not beef. Why does she have to give a clarification?

"She had to as an environment of fear prevails in the country. Some people are trying to dictate to others what they will eat. This is a dangerous situation, an alarming situation," Banerjee said.

Kajol became the target of the trolls after she posted a video of a beef dish at a restaurant where she had visited recently.

The 42-year-old actress, whose ouvre of hit films include "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge", "Ishq", "Baazigar", "Fanaa" and "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", later said it was only buffalo meat which is "legally" available.

"I am issuing this clarification because this is a sensitive matter that may hurt religious sentiments, which is not my intention," she said on Twitter.