How to bully a vegan in Bangladesh

Vegans face constant scrutiny over their dietary choices' ethical and philosophical foundations. Photo: Collected

You might find many vegetarians in Bangladesh, but vegans are scarce here. Nobody in this country becomes a vegan unless they vow to themselves not to kill any animal for their food.

And there lies the problem. If the vegan cited any health reason, meat lovers would have empathised with the vegan. Still, whenever the plant-based human announces that they do not want to kill any animal anymore, the meat-eaters get offensive, saying, mockingly, 'Hey, aren't you killing trees; they have a life too'.

The first challenge of becoming a vegan is to encounter social exclusion, ridicule, and mockery for their dietary choices. 

The feeling of isolation creeps in because vegans face being marginalised on social and official occasions. The vegan is noticed exuberantly during meals because he or she is not eating what everyone eats. But they remain unnoticed even when everyone observes that there is no food for the vegan.

That is how the feeling of discrimination shrouds the vegan's mind. The vegan's own family members take more than a year to understand what plant-based food options are. In official meetings, when everybody orders naan roti, kebab, or chicken and prawn pizza, somehow ordering food for the vegan is ubiquitously forgotten.

The vegans in Bangladesh are lonely people. They have to justify their choice and freedom every step of the way. 

There are more. Meat eaters challengingly raise concerns about vegan diets' nutritional adequacy, particularly about protein and iron, but no one in Bangladesh knows what vitamin B12 is. Every meat eater starts considering vegans eating unhealthy food. Side by side with misinformation and ignorance about plant-based nutrition, meat lovers would also bring in the religious aspect to bully vegans. They will claim that it is ordained in the religion that humans will kill animals for food.

There are countries where individual food choices are respected, but that is not the culture in Bangladesh. During a feast, when everyone observes a vegan eating a plant-based meal, people around him or her start ridiculing the vegan, saying that 'he or she is eating grasses.'

This statement is close to dehumanising someone who chooses not to eat meat.

Vegans also face constant scrutiny over their dietary choices' ethical and philosophical foundations. Meat lovers ask a deluge of questions about the naturalness of a vegan's lifestyle. They hold him responsible for using a leather-made wallet, shoes, belt, and other animal products. Each and every material that a vegan uses is scrutinised. Meat eaters do not help vegans, but they will not spare them judging.

Vegans do not have choices in Bangladesh, and they always feel helpless when it is mealtime. People here normally do not like eating vegetables or plant-based food, which is why vegetable cooking in many different recipes did not develop in this land. 

I became a vegan more than three years ago and went through all these struggles and stresses along the way. Even though it has been more than three years, I still have to explain (as if I am committing a crime) why I chose to become a vegan, why my health has not deteriorated, and why I am happy about the way I eat.

But no one, as they ridicule me, thinks this is what I chose as my food, and I do not want to be the subject of their mockery.

Ekram Kabir is a storyteller and a communications professional. He is just an email away – ekabir@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.