Cow-Beef Politics Coming full circle in India

BJP’s coming to power in West Bengal, after the machinations of the Election Commission and overlooked by the judiciary, has created a major scare amongst the Muslim minority of the state. The Government has started to erect detention centres in every district to house the alleged infiltrators of Bangladesh, has asked for a big memorial for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj amongst other things. Something which has put the state’s Hindu population to great discomfort is related to the sustained campaign to lynch Muslims in the name of cow-beef. As Eid was nearing, the Hindus had come to sell their cows and bulls in the market. To their horror, there are no buyers for the cow progeny. Muslims have collectively decided not to sacrifice these animals for Eid. Starting from the Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami HindJamaat-e-Islami HindAn Islamic organization in India founded as an offshoot of the Jamaat-e-Islami, aimed at promoting Islamic values and social service., Maulana Arshad Madani, to politicians like Asaduddin Owaisi, most leaders of the Muslim community are demanding that the cow be declared as the national animal, replacing the tiger.

In the markets, the Muslims are telling Hindus, who have brought the cow progeny for sale, that it is your mother—keep them at home. Many poor peasants rear these animals for sale on the occasion of Eid so that they can get a good price for the animal so that they can sustain their livelihood. They are feeling disappointed and dejected as their calculations and aspirations are going for a toss. The Muslim organizations have witnessed the massive lynching of Muslims, more so during the last 12 years, in the name of cow-beef. Starting from Mohammad Akhlaq to Mohammad Junaid, there have been over 100 lynchings during the last few years. IndiaSpend data tells us that during 2014 to 2018, 46 Muslims and DalitsDalitsA name chosen by groups historically considered “untouchable” within the Hindu caste system, representing their struggle against oppression. were killed in cow-related violence.

One recalls that in Gujarat’s Una, four Dalits carrying dead cows for deskinning were mercilessly flogged. After this, young Dalit leader, Jignesh MevaniJignesh MevaniAn Indian politician and former lawyer who rose to prominence leading Dalit rights campaigns following the Una flogging incident., campaigned for stopping cow-related trade and demanded that Dalits be allotted their lands. The atmosphere created by cow vigilantes, well protected by those in power and theoretically supported by the RSSRSSRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist volunteer organization widely regarded as the parent organization of the ruling BJP. combine, has been frightening. Some of the acharyas went to the extent of saying that the value of one cow’s life is more than the lives of many human beings. Cow-related products were promoted by Baba Ramdev, who is making hay by selling cow urine. Sambit Patra, the major spokesperson of the BJP, went on to state that cow dung is more valuable than even diamonds. Incidentally, he is a trained postgraduate in modern medicine.

Another professor in Gujarat came out with very enlightening research that cow urine contains gold. What a relief to hear this in times when gold prices are touching the roof! Back to the Muslim community’s collective decision, the losers are the poor Hindu farmers in the game of identity politics. Let’s see whether the Hindutva Government takes the holy decision of declaring her as the national animal. In that case, another set of losers will prop up: the many non-Muslim businessmen who run the beef-exporting enterprises. Main exporters of beef belong to the elite Hindu and Jain community. Sabharwal Brothers (Al Kabeer) Al-Kabeer Exports Pvt. Ltd. is one of the largest meat and carabeefCarabeefMeat from the water buffalo, which is legally slaughtered and exported in India, unlike cow meat. processors in India, operating a massive slaughterhouse in Telangana. It is widely reported as being owned by the Sabharwal family. Arabian Exports Pvt. Ltd is a major Mumbai-based meat exporter, historically owned and managed by the Sunil Kapoor family. M.K.R. Frozen Food Exports Pvt. Ltd.: Headquartered in New Delhi with slaughterhouses in Punjab, this company is managed by Madan Abbott. P.M.L Industries Pvt. Ltd.: Headquartered in Chandigarh and owned by the A.S. Bindra family, among others.

Apart from this, eating non-vegetarian food is also being looked down upon. We know the wide prevalence of beef eating in Goa, the North East, and Kerala. Roughly 77% of India’s population eats non-vegetarian food (Overall Prevalence: About 77% of Indians (83.4% of men and 70.6% of women) consume meat, fish, or chicken regularly). Fish in coastal areas, chicken, mutton, etc., in many more places. Many people assert that Brahmins don’t eat non-vegetarian food. Kashmiri Pandits’ mutton dishes are a delight to behold (The crown jewel of Kashmiri cuisine, Rogan Josh, is an intensely aromatic mutton curry). While Brahmins in Bihar also consume mutton in particular, among others.

Anyway, facts are so diverse from the popular perceptions, which are spread deliberately. This is meant to project that Muslims are primarily meat eaters and are so violent. In Bengal, when the BJP was contesting, Mamata Banerjee did say that with BJP rule, Maach Bhaat (Fish-Rice), the favourite Bengali cuisine, will become difficult to get. In response, Anurag Thakur, the Central Minister (Goli MaroGoli MaroRefers to a controversial, incendiary slogan translated as “shoot them” chanted by Anurag Thakur during a political rally. fame) went on to circulate his video consuming Maach Bhaat and saying that in BJP-ruled states there is no restriction on eating non-vegetarian food. Food identity as an election issue was highlighted when, in a well-advertised video, our non-biological Prime Minister ate Jhal Muri (a local rice-based snack) to show solidarity with the people of Bengal.

Where have we come to in our political campaigns, in trying to spread hate against vulnerable minorities? The West Bengal experience shows the depths to which sectarian politics can fall to win elections. Not only the Election Commission but the popular common sense has been corrupted to the core. As the minorities are writhing in pain and deprivation, the leaders of communal politics are making merry with Jhal Muri and Maach Bhaat, while at the same time propagating the absurd correlation between violent tendencies and food habits. One recalls that the person who imposed the biggest genocide in human history, Adolf Hitler, had turned vegetarian in the latter part of his life.

In the din of massive manipulated victories, these Hindutva politicians also forget that Swami Vivekananda in his lecture in the US had stated (at the Shakespeare Club, Pasadena, California, USA, on February 2, 1900) on the theme of ‘Buddhistic India’: “You will be astonished if I tell you that, according to old ceremonials, he is not a good Hindu who does not eat beef. On certain occasions he must sacrifice a bull and eat it.” [Vivekananda, The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, vol. 3 (Calcutta: Advaita Ashram, 1997), p. 536].

To cap it all, the progenitor of Hindu nationalism, Vinayak Damodar SavarkarVinayak Damodar SavarkarAn Indian politician, activist, and writer who formulated the Hindu nationalist philosophy of Hindutva., had declared that the cow is not a holy animal; it is a useful animal!

The Article is originally published on Countercurrents.