The Kothamangalam Municipal North Meghala Committee of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) raised around ₹50,000 through a pork challenge on Sunday to support the Wayanad landslides-affected people.
The day saw 517 kg of the meat being sold, including the 382 kg for which orders were received earlier and the 135 kg sold through a meat counter set up at Minippadi, said Geo Pious, block secretary of the organisation. The funds would be contributed to the DYFI’s campaign for constructing 25 houses for the landslides-affected, said Mr. Pious.
Incidentally, the pork challenge has not gone down well with some Muslim clerics, including Nazar Faizi Koodathayi, State secretary of the Sunni Yuvajana Sangam, who felt that the organisation was attempting to smuggle in blasphemy in the form of the pork challenge.
The organisation had held a similar campaign in Kasaragod earlier this month.
One of the campaigns
Mr. Pious said the pork challenge was one of the food campaigns undertaken by the DYFI activists at Kothamangalam. Pork was widely consumed in the Kothamangalam area and the organisation decided to explore the possibility of meat sales in the region on Sunday to raise funds. Pork stalls usually did a brisk business in the region, he said. “We also raised funds through the sale of 7,000 litres of payasam, vegetables and fish. Three food kiosks were put up for the cause. The activists also raised funds through the collection and sale of discarded items from households. Some contributed timber that could be used for the construction of houses,” he said.
