Friday 15th November: 10 Downing Street issued an official apology for serving meat and alcohol at its Diwali celebration, following widespread condemnation by the British Hindu community. In addition to pressure from several community leaders and Hindu organisations, MP for Leicester East; Shivani Raja, wrote to Prime Minister Kier Starmer expressing her disappointment and also offered her guidance so such an incident is not repeated.
This is the first time meat and alcohol have been served at Downing Street’s annual Diwali celebration which started in 2009. This year’s decision to serve meat and alcohol was made without consulting representatives of the Hindu community, which has left many British Hindus speculating if this is a genuine oversight by the office of the Prime Minister or a deliberate attempt to offend the community.
Not all Hindus are vegetarian, and some communities have traditions of consuming meat and fish during Diwali. At most public Diwali events, however, meat, fish, eggs and alcohol are not served to respect Hindus who are vegetarian or those who abstain from non-vegetarian food during sacred days. Moreover, Diwali is also a festival shared by Jains, who traditionally practice vegetarianism.
Image credit: Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Downing Street apologies for serving meat and alcohol at Diwali event
