Alcohol and non-halal food such as pork are strictly prohibited at government events in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

On Tuesday, new political outfit Parti Hati Rakyat Malaysia urged the government to extend the rule to beef to appease the country’s minority Buddhist and Hindu communities. Cows are considered sacred by Hindus, while certain Buddhist sects – particularly those who follow Guanyin – abstain from eating beef.

“Malaysia is a multiracial, multireligious country [that includes] Hindus and Buddhists, who consider beef [consumption] as taboo,” Parti Hati chairman Chan Tse Yuen said in a statement on Tuesday.

“But so far … the government seems to have ignored the religious sensitivities of Hindus and Buddhists.”