After harassing animals and intervening in cultural practices under the garb of animal rights and veganism, PETA has now stooped to a new low by resorting to online harassment of those who question their double standards and dubiousness.
PETA India on July 15 had put out a tweet with a picture of cow with the caption “This Rakshabandhan, protect cows too”. With Rakshabandhan having nothing to do with cows, PETA India’s tweet was called out for once again intervening in Hindu festivals.
Congress leader and Member of Parliament Abishek Singhvi said that cow is considered a motherly figure in India and not ‘sisterly’ (Rakshabandhan is a festival celebrated by Hindus in which sisters tie Rakhi/thread to their brothers as a symbolic expression of love and for protecting them).
🐄 is considered to be a motherly figure in India, not sisterly. I think the PR team of PETA got that horribly wrong 😆
Nothing to take away from the initiative, we must all endeavour to protect the Cow from slaughter / torture.— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) July 17, 2020
BJP MP Baijayant Panda too called out PETA’s absurd tweet.
Really, #PETA? A campaign to "protect cows" on #RakshaBandhan? Are cows harmed or butchered to celebrate #Rakhi? Could have been seen as astounding disconnect & ignorance, except for your track record of selective outrage in India & funding from global far left anarchist sources.
— Baijayant Jay Panda (@PandaJay) July 17, 2020
Earlier, the deplorable NGO known for interfering in Hindu cultural practices under the garb of animal rights, tried to do the same with Bakra Eid but backtracked after facing opposition from Muslim clerics. They had put a hoarding of a goat that said “I am a life, I am not meat” urging people to change their view on animals and go vegan which was removed after Islamic clerics objected to it.
In light of this and in response to PETA India’s tweet about Rakshabandhan, author and activist Shefali Vaidya tweeted on July 16 calling out the double standards of PETA.
Replying to this tweet, PETA mocked at her eating habits by digging out an old tweet of Shefali Vaidya put in March, 2020 in which she had said that being a Konkani, she eats fish and chicken.
"I am vegetarian"–things @ShefVaidya never says, because she is a meat-eater: https://t.co/47IkqeKTq2. 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. https://t.co/dHQ38hWGa0
— PETA India (@PetaIndia) July 18, 2020
Unlike beef and pork that are religiously sensitive to the respective religions, fish and chicken form a part of the staple diet of non-vegetarian people cutting across different communities.
Shefali went on to stand her ground and asked PETA India to prove that they had run campaigns on Muslim festivals like Eid. PETA India replied that they had run a campaign on Eid.
However, as mentioned earlier, they were taken to task by Muslims when they put out a hoarding in Qaiserbagh, Uttar Pradesh urging people to give up meat but it brought it down facing pressure from Islamic clerics.
You miss the point. Go vegan for the ANIMALS Shefali. Not for PETA India, for "challenges", or for anything else. Live by example, others will follow. You can put any billboard up yourself. Our campaign has already been up in cities all month: https://t.co/nPI7t9M2rZ. You're late
— PETA India (@PetaIndia) July 18, 2020
Later, she was repeatedly trolled and harassed by PETA India and other self-proclaimed libertarians. Mohammad Zubair of AltNews took this chance to pounce on Shefali by taking out an old facebook post of Shefali where she had mentioned that she had tried traditional non-vegetarian cuisine of Odisha.
Also Mutton Kassa… pic.twitter.com/6cCh1Fsivx
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) July 18, 2020
Also chinguri curry (Prawn).
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) July 18, 2020
Also… Hypocrisy ki bhi Shifali Yadav hoti hai… pic.twitter.com/lCKNrT4LJJ
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) July 18, 2020
In another post, PETA India taunted her and her children for playing cricket with a supposedly leather ball.
Err, what? Their leather balls?! There r synthetic balls. This is what happens to cows/buffaloes for leather: https://t.co/137TzUMg7X. This is why PETA India runs campaigns to encourage the public to go leather-free. Cows are our sisters under the skin and need our protection.
— PETA India (@PetaIndia) July 19, 2020
Meanwhile, the hashtage #SnakeLivesMatter started trending on Twitter to troll Shefali Vaidya.
PETA India, unbecoming of an organization, breached norms of public decency by tagging Shefali in a tweet that said “Dear Shefali, just letting you know we help snakes too.. They are not belts, bags, and shoes. They are living beings, just like you”.
Dear @ShefVaidya, just letting you know, we help snakes too. https://t.co/8WeAUkrpEA They are not belts, bags, and shoes. They are living beings, just like you. #WearVegan
— PETA India (@PetaIndia) July 18, 2020
Following this, she was hounded by abusive trolls, mostly found to be Congress supporters or Muslims.
Congress party proudly funding ad hominem of women @ShefVaidya with their Islamists and Commie gang
Let us not forget what happened #ShahBano #SukanyaDevi & millions of other women
Look at the profiles who are trending #SnakesLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/KKHN9Sbje7
— अरुन् पुदुर् (@arunpudur) July 19, 2020
However, the online stir exposed PETA India’s brazen hypocrisy. PETA India’s “animal activists” were attacked by Muslims when they tried to run campaign on Eid promoting veganism.
Instead of abusing @ShefVaidya for asking them to put up a Billboard saying "This Eid al-Adha protect goats, go Vegan", why can't @PetaIndia just admit they are scared to do so because their activists were thrashed when they last tried something similar.
No harm in Admitting it. pic.twitter.com/X6eH03wAKi
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) July 18, 2020
From then on, they had then treaded soft or backtracked when they tried to run campaigns on Muslim festivals.
PETA, an international NGO has gone out and about abusing and trolling a woman on Twitter for calling out its hypocrisy and for intervening in cultural practices.
Peta India’s campaigns are led by Sachin Bangera, Director of Celebrity and Public Relations of PETA India.
In other news, PETA India was once again made to run helter-skelter by people of Puducherry and Tamil Nadu as Lakshmi the elephant who was illegally abducted by PETA returned to her home in Manakula Vinayagar Temple on Saturday. They were also shown the finger by Tamil Nadu people when they tried to ban Jallikattu.