The growing enforcement of vegetarianism in India has to be understood as part of the agenda of the Hindu Rashtra. Elsewhere in the world, vegetarianism vs non vegetarianism may be a simple matter of not wanting to eat animal flesh. In India however, the history of vegetarianism is inextricably bound with caste.

“Are you pure veg?" is a question that is used to determine a person's caste - as marginalized-caste Indians found to their dismay when working in seemingly agnostic Silicon Valley. https://thewire.in/caste/cisco-caste-discrimination-silicon-valley-dalit-prejudice

Why the word 'pure' in front of vegetarian? I found myself thinking about this when I returned to India after a period of almost ten years in the US. Surely, the question should simply be "do you eat meat?" I was used to non-Indians identifying themselves as pescatarian, or vegan, or omnivore. The phrase 'pure vegetarian' is ominous, signifying as it does the blood purity that Brahminical culture insists upon.

It also creates a standard of discrimination against Muslims. https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/after-uproar-police-remove-for-vegetarians-only-board-from-outside-mumbai-building/story-KZmCE6zXnL2Yxi5yMmyFmI.html Landlords may not feel comfortable expressing that they will not rent to Muslims (though, in this growing climate of Islamophobia, they grow increasingly comfortable with their bigotry), but they feel empowered to say that they will not rent to meat-eaters.

It is a handy tool- at once, it cuts out those renters who are Muslim AND those who are not privileged-caste. The idea that India is a vegetarian country is not really true, as Article 14 points out https://article-14.com/post/as-higher-caste-influential-hindus-turn-vegetarian-states-govts-try-to-enforce-vegetarianism--60f6447a8b2e7. “No more than 23-37% of Indians were vegetarian."

So the question becomes, who does that idea of vegetarian India serve? Who is pushing for it, and who does it exclude and oppress?