Social media influencer and blogger Kamiya Jani has tendered a clarification after a row erupted over her visit to Odisha’s Shree Jagannath Temple. The Bharatiya Janata Party alleged the blogger for promoting beef consumption and questioned why she was allowed to enter the 12th century shrine in Puri, where entry of non-Hindus is strictly prohibited.
Now, Kamiya Jani — founder of Curly Tales, a platform boasting content of food and travel — has come up with a clarification saying she is a practising Hindu and has never had beef.
In a video message on her Instagram profile, Kamiya said her aim to visit the Puri temple was to “seek blessing of Lord Jagannath and spread the information about its (temple) infrastructural development.”
“It’s unfortunate that my visit has become a centre of controversy. I understand that temple authority has some rules and I want to clarify that I have violated no rule,” she added.
Her video message also featured one of her videos from Kerala on the basis of which she has been alleged of promoting beef but Kamiya said she is practising Hindu and “neither have I eaten beef nor do I promote it.”
“As a food blogger, I have told you about the local cuisine of different places and that's what happened in the Kerala video from where the screenshots were used,” adding, “because I don’t eat beef, I had Kadala curry which is a black chana curry, appam, and pazham pori.”
ALSO READ: Who Is Kamiya Jani? Social Media Influencer Whose Jagannath Temple Visit Has Irked BJP
“There are other videos about various restaurants, cities and countries where I talk about the local cuisine but it’s not like I eat it all,” she added.
Earlier also, the social media influencer had issued a clarification saying she has been visiting all the Jyotirlingas and char dhams in the country as she is an Indian. However, mentioning that an article has been published in a newspaper over her visit, she said has never consumed beef.