“Holy Cow” 3-26-2015

26, March 2015                            “Holy Cow”

In a determined effort to impose its religious baggage on the Indian people, the Bharatiya Janata Party has issued a fatwa declaring “all meat is murder” and seems determined to elevate cow slaughter a capital crime; earlier this month Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party passed a law in the northern state of Haryana that makes cow slaughter punishable up to 10 years in prison.

This follows on the heel of a similar law passed in Maharashtra, which brings to date a staggering 20, out of 29, the number of states in India that outlaws cow slaughter. The beef-ban has generated a great deal of consternation and debate. What is conveniently overlooked is the inconvenient truth that India is one of the largest exporters of beef in the world, second only to Brazil.

In a crass politicization of the “holy cow,” both major parties have used icons in their election appeals. Ancient religious symbols like Kamadhenu, features a heavenly cow sporting a woman’s face.  In the early 1970s, the ruling Congress Party used a popular election slogan “Vote for Calf and Cow, Forget All Others Now.”

In a political gamesmanship to see who could sink lower in a bizarre game of ‘political limbo’, during last year’s national election campaign, Mr. Modi blasted the ruling Congress government for aggressively promoting the “pink revolution” in India’s beef exports. Ironically,  since ascending to power, the beef exports have increased by a staggering 17 percent while his party has instituted a zero-tolerance for domestic consumption.; 80 new slaughterhouses have been built in Uttar Pradesh alone. The double standard has hardly elicited much outrage.

It is puzzling why S.K. Swami, the founder of the Love4Cow organization, and his army of cow-protection supporters seem so unconcerned with the bludgeoning export of beef. It is also baffling why Muslim butchers get a free pass and are not harassed or receive citations by the ‘cow police’. Also, puzzling is the total unconcern for the legions of emaciated nomadic cows wondering along the streets of every major city looking for small scraps of food, often ingesting plastic to satisfy their perpetual hunger pangs. If India claims to be a true secular state religious rituals and practices should be confined to temples and not imposed on the population at large.

Pity there isn’t a Jon Stewart to mock the absurd claims of the beef – ‘cows are sacred’ aficionados: a few examples: Syed Ahmed Bukhari, imam of  Delhi’s Jama Masjid claims that he is a tolerant Muslim because the beef is cooked outside his home by a Hindu cook;  Sudhanshu Trivedi, court astrologer to the home minister (I am not kidding!) stated that “The ban on beef is logical, progressive and scientific.” Sounds eerily similar to US Republicans refuting burning fossil fuels do not contribute to climate change. Not to be outdone, Rakesh Sinha, the director of a right-wing think tank, asserted that “scientific research” had “proved” that eating beef is “dangerous.” McDonald’s are you listening? Mother India must be weeping!