Columnist Shefali Vaidya and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) India locked horns over the recent ‘save cows during Raksha Bandhan’ post that sparked outrage on social media.
Vaidya took to Twitter and slammed the animal rights outfit for targeting a Hindu festival and wrote, “‘This Eid-Al-Adha, sacrifice your ego, not innocent animals’. Said NO celeb animal rights activist EVER! #ThingsLibtardsNeverSay”
This led to the trend of #BakraLivesMatter on the micro blogging site. For those unversed, in 2019, PETA started a campaign to stop sacrifice of goats, ahead of Bakra Eid festival. It put up billboards with a picture of a goat proclaiming "I am ME, Not Mutton. See the Individual. Go Vegan." However, it later took them down.
"PETA India is looking to place the original billboard featuring the goat in the city again, but so far, billboard companies seem too nervous to accept it," it said in a statement.
Responding to Shefali’s tweet, PETA dug out an old post of the columnist from March 2020, where she stated that she is a Konkani and eats fish and chicken.
“"I am vegetarian"--things @ShefVaidya never says, because she is a meat-eater: https://twitter.com/ShefVaidya/status/1235534874506752001. Change starts at home. Go vegan Shefali, live by example, and join us urging Konkanis, Muslims, and people of all other backgrounds to go vegan,” wrote PETA.
Congress’ online magazine for ‘youth’ Yuva Desh attacked Vaidya and called her a ‘snake’ for voicing her concern for the inhumane goat sacrifice ahead of Bakra Eid.
PETA took it a step further and wrote, “Dear @ShefVaidya, just letting you know, we help snakes too. https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZD0-SVMWFbI They are not belts, bags, and shoes. They are living beings, just like you. #WearVegan”
Shefali went all out with her canon, firing back to back tweets on PETA for trolling a woman and their selective outrage toward Hindus.
She also slammed the organisation for its hypocrisy with regards to the US counterpart, mentioning a blog about systematic killing for Islamic communities.
Vaidya questioned the ownership of the animal rights wing while maintaining that the organisation is anti-Hindu. Here are some of her tweets.
