Holy cow and unholy act of violence

  

Dadri incident has shocked the conscience of the nation. We fail to understand the sickness of the mind that drove the mob to kill Mohd Akhlaq, who had “suspiciously” eaten cow meat or he was in “possession” of beef in his fridge. Nobody is sure whether he ate beef. Or even if he ate beef, should he have been killed?

We all know that lot of Muslims eat beef or a certain section of Dalits in India eat beef. A minuscule portion of “progressive and urban” Hindus also savour cow’s meet and persuade other Hindus to eat beef.

It’s a matter of choice, matter of belief system, matter of familial tradition that determines whether one eats beef or not.

The bigger question is If somebody eats beef, does he become a fallen guy considering the fact that for countries except India, there is no taboo or belief attached to the “holiness of cow?”   

I must say Cowherd has been integral part of farming community across India and they do not even hit cow with sticks. How they can eat cow’s meat?

During Diwali cows are worshipped by Hindu families as she is considered as (laxmi) or sign of prosperity.

A leftist historian DN Jha has been quoted profusely by the intelligentsia recently on the merits and demerits of eating beef.

Jha has been quoted how Kings of yore used to eat beef, perform Yagna etc. I will certainly not get into this debate as I have very little knowledge of “history of cow eating” in India.

I have not read Vedas or upnishads therefore I restrict myself from commenting on controversial issues.

Since I belong to a farmer’s family, I know and understand how cow can improve the economic condition of the family.

At some point of time till early 1990s, we used to own 17-18 milch cows and buffalos. My family used to earn lot of money those days when price of milk was not more than Rs 10/kilo.

Every second family used to own couple of milch cows and families were economically self- reliant then.

Lot of families gave up on rearing cows and lost a big opportunity to maintain their source of income. Over dependence on agriculture proved to be a bane for Indian farmers. Or perhaps it was the beginning of the downfall of Indian agriculture.  Sadly, we are not talking about how cows can improve financial condition of the rural folk; we are rather involved in making cow a “cultural symbol.”

India would rather urge the government to protect and save indeginous varities of our Indian cows, whose milk are beneficial for different ailments.

Those who have jumped into the discussion of “whether to eat beef or not” must desist from it.

I don’t blame Hindu or Muslim religious fanatics, who find it opportune to fully exploit the situation for furthering their political goals. India is a multi-cultural country where people of different caste and creed with different food habits reside peacefully. We must respect all.