Well, let’s begin with the world super powers today –
Globalization – USA
Literacy – UK
Technology – Japan
MEAT BAN! Errr!!…. INDIA.
Well, though our motherland is still far from becoming a world power, I included it in the list to show how much we are in contrast with the top names of the world. Definitely, when our counterparts are racing with time and modernization, we Indians are still concerned with whether our population should eat beef or chicken or mutton or substitute it with paneer or milk or simply chomp on veggies. The most important thing by all means is that it is a personal choice. For God’s sake, it is a personal choice! Food should be the last thing that should be dictated by the narrow minded religious fanatics who run our country.
The recent news of Haryana calling for an 8 day ban on the slaughter and sale of meat due to the Jain fasting period “Paryushan Parva” has come off as yet another thrash on the so called secularity of our country. Other BJP run state governments like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra have also been following the same suit by opting for the meat ban for varying number of days. The affluent members of the Jain community are the top business leaders in the financial capital and so our government is taking a stand to respect their religious sentiments. While it is a must to respect all religious sentiments but that does not mean snatching the fundamental rights of other communities including what they want to eat.
If this is the way it should be then will our Government remember to put a month long ban on food and even water during Ramzan and Lent which is a 30 day and 40 day fasting period of the Muslims and Christians respectively. Sounds illogical! Of course it is! The entire theory of dictating an entire population as per the norms of a particular community is the base for a theocratic society. It is high time that the reigning Government thinks beyond just beef and meat.
And how to forget the logic of not including fish in the ban, because it is not slaughtered but it dies the moment it is taken out of water. Well, is it so that the fish jumps out of the water into your plate out of choice? And what about the eggs? Aren’t we killing the future chickens by eating them? And milk is then the food of the little calves. It’s indeed a real shame that we are run by such quarter brained people who just shove on us their verdicts based on garbage logic like these. And to all those who are saying that not eating meat for 8 days will not kill anyone, of course it will not, but no one has the right to direct what should serve as anyone’s lunch and dinner on which day. Most importantly, it is robbing the meat sellers the right to earn. A butcher house is slated to incur a loss of around 3.84 lakhs owing to the 8 day meat ban, leave alone the loss of crores of rupees to the state and country. Meat forms a staple in continental restaurants that have already suffered a setback due to the beef ban and now this meat ban is surely going to keep the foreign tourists at bay as they usually prefer non vegetarian food. Plus we should think of the animals kept in the Zoos. Are they going to feed vegetables and paneer to the lions and tigers and other carnivores during those 8 days? Jainism is a religion of Ahinsa in more ways than one. But how is this act not going against the poor meat sellers and their families who are robbed of their livelihood, the non vegetarian lot of the population who are forcibly made to eat what they don’t want to and the innocent animals that are deprived of their food?
We now know that plants also have life and can feel pain. Many are of the view that plants have a few senses less so it is alright to eat them. If killing a deaf and mute person (one who has two senses less) will not lessen a murder crime similarly killing God’s creation like plants that have a few senses less for your own consumption also does not sounds rational(if that’s your logic). Science has proved that plants not only feel pain but they also cry but the human ear is unable to hear it because it falls below the audible range of 20 Hertz to 20,000 Hertz. Moreover no other food source can surpass meat as it is the best source of proteins in the world. All the 8 essential amino acids that are not prepared by the human body are found in meat and Vitamin B1, Niacin and Iron are also present in good quantities.
Religion is something that should be practiced with freedom but within your doors and not forcibly imposed on others. Vegetarianism or non vegetarianism is a matter of choice and should never be mixed with religion. But when it is India, the matter is always the reverse. Banning meat to support the sentiments of the vegetarian communities or banning vegetables to support the sentiments of the non vegetarian communities is definitely not practiced in any rational democracy of the world. We only hope that such practices do not become a norm in our country giving way to more religious outcries and hatred among the population. The only way out is to “Ban the Ban”.
