11/5/2016

McDonald'sfacingHinduprotestsoverrestaurantsnearholysitesTelegraph

McDonald'sfacingHinduprotestsoverrestaurantsnearholysites
McDonald's,homeoftheBigMac,hasbeenthreatenedwithprotestsoverplanstoopen
restaurantsintwoofIndia'smostreveredreligiouscentresandpilgrimagesites.

MeatisoffthemenuattwoMcDonald'scateringforpilgrimsinIndia.

ByDeanNelson,NewDelhi
3:56PMBST04Sep2012

Inanodtoreligiousanddietarysensitivities,therestaurantswillbevegetarian.Butthefastfood
giants'chosenlocationsareprovingcontroversialregardless.
Thefirstsite,KatrainJammuandKashmir,ishometoShriMataVaishnoDevi,oneofHinduism's
fourholiestshrinesandanunlikelyhavenforthechainthatslaughtersmillionsofcows,whichare
sacredtoIndians,everyyearforitsburgers,quarterpoundersandBigMacs.
ThesecondvegetarianrestaurantisplannedforAmritsar,homeoftheGoldenTemple,thecentreofthe
SikhreligioninPunjab.Bothformpartofthefastfoodgiant'saimtodoubleitssizeinoneofthe
world'sfastestgrowingeconomies.
AlthoughSikhsarenotforbiddenfromeatingmeat,theirtemplesserveonlyfreevegetarianfoodto
pilgrimsandvisitors.
Theopeningofvegetarianonlyoutletsisthelatestattemptbytheglobalgianttowinoveraninitially
resistantpeopleweddedtotheirowndistinctspicycuisine.
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11/5/2016

McDonald'sfacingHinduprotestsoverrestaurantsnearholysitesTelegraph

BeefhasneverbeenonthemenusinceMcDonald'sfirstopeneditsfirstIndianstoreinDelhiin1996,
andalthoughithaskeptitscarnivorefocus,servingchickennuggets,lambsausagemuffinsandfish
burgers,itslocalstoreshavebecomelargelyunrecognisablefromtheirWesternoutlets.
Its'AlooMcTikkiburgers'spicyIndianpotatocakesnowaccountforaquarterofitssaleswith
McSpicyPaneer(cottagecheese)burgerscatchingupfast.HowMcDonald's'goldenarches'willbe
welcomedbypilgrimsreturningfromtheGoldenTempleorthearduousclimbtoworshipthegolden
shrinetoShriMataVaishnoDevianactofpurificationforHindusremainstobeseen.
Theshrineisasteepascentof3,000feetfromKatra,highintheHimalayanfoothillsandatenmile
hikethroughdifficultterrain.
Eighteenthousandpilgrimsmaketheclimbtothecavewheretheshrineishousedandmanyofthem
waitupto20hoursfortheirdarshanorviewingofthe'MotherGoddess'.
McDonald'sishopinghereightmilliondevotees,havingemergedpurefromtheirmountainpilgrimage
willbehungrytocarbloadonfriesandburgers.
"Weseeahugepotential(forvegoutlets)as,bynature,Indiansarereligious,"VikramBakshi,who
managesMcDonald'srestaurantsineastandnorthIndia,toldtheEconomicTimes.
ButtheHindunationalistgroupSwadeshiJagranManch,abranchoftheinfluentialRashtriya
SwayamsevakSangh(RSS)saiditwouldopposeMcDonald'splansanddescribedthemasanattempt
to"humiliateHindus".
"It'sanattemptnotonlytomakemoneybutalsotodeliberatelyhumiliateHindus.Itisanorganisation
associatedwithcowslaughter.Ifwemakeanannouncementthatthey'reslaughteringcows,people
won'teatthere.Wearedefinitelygoingtofightit,"itsnationalcoconvenerS.GurumurthytoldThe
DailyTelegraph.
AMcDonaldsspokesmansaid:Thenewrestaurantsinpilgrimageareaswillbevegetarianonly
becauseofthespecificareaandcustomerbase.ThisfurtherspeakstoMcDonaldseffortstocaterto
localtastes.

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