Let me dish out an unpalatable 'mann ki baat' of mine, which I have never shared with anybody so far in fear of being branded as a racist. I have always looked down upon those who eat only vegetarian meals. I have always used a snide term 'ghaas phussh' to describe vegetarian dishes. In fact, I have a bizarre theory on the repeated defeats of Hindu kingdoms by the foreign invaders, or the lacklustre performance of our athletes in Olympics. By now you must have understood that I have attributed it to the eating habits. In my view, eating meat was the only gateway of having a strong body and an aggressive mindset. In short, I was a vainglorious meat-eater. A weekend without mutton biryani and chicken rezaala from a famous restaurant was simply unthinkable for me. But very recently, the shocking revelation of dumping ground meat has shattered the biryani-loving people like me.
A very minor incident had led to this shocking revelation. There was a starting problem of a car near the Budge Budge dumpyard. The driver wanted the help of the locals to push the car. While doing so, the local youths noticed that a very foul smell was emanating from the car. Getting curious, they found out that there was large amount of carcasses inside the car. They handed over the driver to the local police station. When he was grilled, he revealed that the meat was going to a cold storage in Rajabazar area in Kolkata. But, he didn't reveal the purpose. The police started investigation, and found that a well-organised racket, headed by Biswanath Ghorui, of adulterating meat had been operating for more than 10 years. Their modus operandi will simply shock you.
The local municipal staff would inform the linkman of this network of the new arrival of a dead animal in the dumpyard. The linkman would transport the animal by an ac car to a secret factory where a butcher would skin the animal and cut the meat. He would add preservatives to the meat. Another linkman would come and carry the meat to the cold storage, where it would be kept for sometime before finally despatched to the meat suppliers. These suppliers would sell the meat to various restaurants, hotels and fast-food factories across the entire country.
On investigation, the kingpin Biswanath, more popularly known as 'Bhagar Bishu' and 'Mangso Bishu', had revealed that every month he supplied 20 tons of such meat to the market. About 5 ton was required in West Bengal, while the rest went to the various parts of the country. He also disclosed that he purchased the meat at the rate of Rs 60 per kg, but sold it at Rs 240 per kg, that is with a hopping profit of 300%! Many reputed restaurants and hotels have been the buyers of this rotten meat. The name of a reputed manufacture of patties, which used this rotten meat, has popped up during the investigation. I can't name it here, but I am sure most of you, who are non-vegetarian, have tasted it's products. Bishu told the police that he collected carcasses from 25 dumpyards across the state.
Now, the big question is what did we actually eat, which we thought was mutton? Cows, goats, lambs or pigs are not thrown at dumpyard. So, we are left with only dogs and cats. The number of cats is very insignificant compared to dogs. So, we can safely conclude that what we have been eating was nothing but rotten dog meat. We are all dog-eaters!
Eating dog is not a taboo in many parts of the world. In India, Nagas are well-known for eating dog meat. I have heard from a reliable source that the Naga soldiers, who were on election duty, had wiped out the local dog population in their brief stay. The tastes of dog meat and mutton are very similar. Unless you are trained, you can't distinguish between the two. Only on couple of occasions, I had a suspicion while eating mutton biryani.
Who were responsible for this gigantic amount of cheating? Surely, the evil-doers couldn't have done this without taking some important state functionaries into confidence! However, I don't think any big fish will be caught. Only a few minions will be punished for the satisfaction of public.
Now, what is the solution to prevent the repeatation of the crime? Various municipalities across the state have been installing CCTVs in the dumpyards. Vacant posts of the food inspectors will be filled in near future. A board has been formed to inspect meat from time to time. However, I don't think any of these measures would stop the repeat of the incident in near future. The crime syndicate is too strong not to circumvent these measures. So, what is the solution? I think legalising selling of dog meat will be the solution. Bengalis are such people who can't live without meat. So, there will always be huge demand for meat. Bengalis, barring Muslims, don't eat beef. So, costly mutton won't be able to meet the demand. There will always be shortfall, and the dishonest businessman will always try to cheat. Therefore, legalise dog-eating, so that we don't have to eat rotten meat!
NB: The investigation is still going on, and everyday there has been a revelation. My blog is based on reports from a Bengali newspaper. Picture taken form the Internet.
