Yeah definitely. In the case of the North-East states, its just plain racism. In many ways this focus on "vegetarianism" is pushed only by the older Brahmins trying to impose a fascist ideology as a reaction against rising meat consumption among the youth (esp. urbanized youth). It results in many interesting formulations such as reactionary young Hindus claiming to not eat meat on certain holy days (such as Tuesday) thereby maintaining their purity while denying it to others.