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A Mira Road school’s circular barring onion, garlic and non-veg food during Paryushan draws MNS complaint and a sharp Sanjay Raut attack on BJP MLA Mehta.
The circular asks students to skip non-veg food during the eight-day Jain Paryushan period.
A circular by Mira Road’s Seven Square School, asking students to skip non-vegetarian food, onion, garlic and root vegetables during the eight-day Jain Paryushan period, has snowballed into a political row. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has filed a complaint accusing the school, run by a trust linked to Bhayandar MLA Narendra Mehta’s family, of imposing religious practices on students.
Mehta has defended the move as a nutrition-driven decision rather than a religious one, arguing that onion, garlic and potatoes are unhealthy choices best avoided. But with students from multiple communities enrolled at the CBSE-affiliated school, the circular has reignited a broader, recurring debate: how much say should institutions, or politicians, have over what people eat.
What Exactly Did The School Ask Students To Do?
According to a report by the Times of Indiathe circular, issued on the school portal, asked students not to bring non-vegetarian food or items like onion, garlic, potatoes and beetroot in their lunch boxes for the duration of Paryushan (8–16 September), a period of fasting and reflection observed by Jains. Mehta’s wife chairs the Seven Eleven Education Society that runs the school.
What Are Political Leaders Saying On Social Media?
The row has spilled onto X, where Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, tagging Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, sharply criticised the circular, alleging it amounted to an “attack” on Maharashtra’s dharma and questioning whether Mehta’s associates would next decide what Mumbaikars eat or whether Marathi residents could stay in the city.
Raut’s post also invoked the sacrifice of 106 people during the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, asking whether the state won through that struggle was being “auctioned off.”
The school ‘Seven Square Academy’ at Mira Road (Thane) has sent a circular to parents through its portal and WhatsApp group, according to which during Paryushan period (September 8 to September 16) students can grow underground plants like onion, garlic, potato or beet in containers… — Sanjay Raut (@rautsanjay61) September 10, 2026
Is This An Isolated Dispute, Or Part Of A Wider Pattern?
Food and religion have repeatedly collided in Indian politics this year, well beyond Mira Road:
• Uttar Pradesh (last month): Cabinet minister Om Prakash Rajbhar backed colleague Sanjay Nishad’s claim that fish cooked without onion and garlic could be considered vegetarian, and challenged Congress to clarify how fish served at its Ayodhya event was prepared. The remark followed a row over a video showing fish being cooked at a Congress gathering during Sawan, with BJP calling it an affront to Sanatan tradition; Congress’s Ajay Rai defended it as reflecting the Nishad community’s food culture.
• West Bengal (last week): The Vishva Hindu Parishad urged Durga Puja organisers to keep non-vegetarian food away from pandals, citing the idol’s sanctity, before clarifying it wasn’t seeking a blanket ban and acknowledging that Durga Puja in Bengal has never been strictly vegetarian.
• The nuance often missed: Several Bengali households, particularly those with East Bengal roots, offer fish like hilsa or shol to Durga on Dashami under longstanding Shakta tradition, even as many community pandals serve vegetarian bhog — showing the vegetarian-versus-non-vegetarian framing oversimplifies actual practice.
What Connects These Disputes?
Each case turns on the same underlying tension: whether food practices tied to religion or festivals should be a matter of personal or community choice, or something institutions and political parties can prescribe.
In Mira Road, it’s a school circular; in Uttar Pradesh, a semantic argument over what counts as “vegetarian”; in Bengal, a debate over ritual food during a festival with deep, varied culinary traditions.
Education officials have noted that decisions like the Seven Square circular typically require sign-off from parent bodies such as the PTA or School Management Committee, a process that appears not to have been followed here — adding a procedural question to the religious row already dominating headlines, and one that has now drawn sharper political attacks over Marathi identity and communal politics in Maharashtra.
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Ask News18A circular from Mira Road’s Seven Square School, asking students to avoid non-vegetarian food, onion, garlic, and root vegetables during the Jain Paryushan period, sparked a political controversy in Thane, India.
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Sumedha Kirti is a Chief Sub Editor with over eight years of experience — both at the desk and reporting. She is a graduate from Delhi University’s Miranda House. Kirti has previously worked with news…Read More
September 10, 2026, 1:38 PM IST
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