Police in Tamil Nadu on Friday said that a mob had attacked Muslim man after he posted a photo of himself eating beef on Facebook. No sooner did the news of this rare attack against a Muslim man in Tamil Nadu spread, Tamilian social media users took to Twitter to trend hashtags #Beef4life, #WeLoveBeef and #BeefForLife.
According to media reports, 24-year-old Faizan was attacked in Nagapattinam district after he shared a photo of himself consuming beef on Facebook on Thursday. A resident of Poravachery, Faizan soon saw a mob of 20 people outside his house. What began as a mere questioning soon turned into a brutal attack as the enraged mob assaulted him with a knife. He was saved by his neighbours, who intervened in time. He was later admitted to a local hospital.
District Superintendent of Police TK Rajasekaran ordered the Kilvelur police to file a case against the accused, who had attacked the Muslim man. Cops have also booked and arrested four people, identified as Dinesh Kumar, Agathian, Ganeshkumar, and Mohankumar. All four are believed to be in their 20s. They have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including an attempt to murder.
“I went to Chennai to meet my relatives where I had beef soup. I posted the picture after I returned home,” Faizan was quoted by News18. He said that the mob attacked him nearly five hours later. “They thrashed me and asked me if I would ever consume beef again,” he added.
Social media users in Tamil, who have always their dislike to the dreaded Hindutva ideology, soon took to Twitter to trend hashtags celebrating the consumption of beef. Hashtags #Beef4life, #WeLoveBeef and #BeefForLife became the three top trending topics on the micrblogging site.
Here are some of the reactions:
After a boy was stabbed in #Nagapatinam for consuming #beef soup, outraged #Twitter users trend #WeLoveBeef #Beef4Life #BeefForLife
— Shabbir Ahmed (@Ahmedshabbir20) July 12, 2019
Fresh fried BEEF #WeLoveBeef pic.twitter.com/2G32SAbwYW
— Kijjibhai (@kijjiii) July 12, 2019
People ask me why I am proud of being tamil. We know how to show resistance to fascist goons , so yes am proud
You did not thrash a Muslim for us, you thrashed a tamil. He IS us. You are not us. #beef4life#BeefForLife #WeLoveBeef
— پربھا (@deepsealioness) July 12, 2019
എന്തൊരു ക്രൂരത! Such pix are banned unless you invite us unfortunate northerners over for dinner ☹️ #WeLoveBeef #Beef4Life https://t.co/PlvKUQxhDK
— Anna MM Vetticad (@annavetticad) July 12, 2019
Tamil twitter rocked ??? #Beef4life #WeLoveBeef #BeefForLife pic.twitter.com/C9L6MxBC1N
— Md Asif Khan آصِف (@imMAK02) July 12, 2019
#WeLoveBeef #Beef4life ?? my life my choice my food pic.twitter.com/z2T7GUsmTV
— Al Hayat❤️ (@_d_i_l) July 12, 2019
Beef gravy ??#Beef4life ??#WeLoveBeef ??? pic.twitter.com/mDRF2QRCcg
— Idhayath (@Idhayath7) July 12, 2019
Of course, there were others who criticised Tamil social media users for trending the pro-beef hashtags with even asking Twitter to take actions these users. But they were in tiny minority.