The tantrum of the present government against the minorities has reached its zenith with the culmination of a new scheme of fascism aimed with precision on the dietary habits of the minorities. The incontinent rallying of the government against the rights and interest of the minorities, especially the Muslims climbed its ultimate peak when the state governments run by the BJP in Maharashtra and Haryana banned the slaughter of cows and selling of beef. The government’s mandate on beef has forced the worrying curves to work on the foreheads of millions employed in beef trade, in addition to the religious minorities like the Muslims and Christians, who consume the same during many of their pompous celebrations. But the effect of the ban on beef is not only restricted to them, it has a much wider economic effect.
The economically backward communities, whose average daily required calorie intake hardly meets up with the income he or she can suffice out of the system, were heavily relied on beef to meet up the protein requirements of their body. The memories are still fresh when thousands of Dalits took the roads protesting against the planning to ban beef by eating beef on the roads. The recent banning of the same in Maharashtra and Haryana will have its toll on them too along with the many economically backward communities, as they will be forced to resort to expensive vegetables to meet up with their protein requirements. The government, while it has banned beef, to put forward its own saffron agenda has shown no initiative to propose an alternative diet plan to replace the cheap beef that has over the years fed millions.
The Maharashtra government led by D. Fadnavis, an RSS cadre initially, has proposed and brought about the law for 5 years jail and 10000 rupees fine for any found in possession of beef. The slaughter of cows had been facing many resistances from a long time, by the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976. The BJP-ShivSena government sent the bill to the president in 1996 when it got rejected, subsequent governments also did not take any action. But the Devendra Fadnavis led government sent the bill to the president and got it enacted, it directed all its attention this bill when there were many other issues of importance demanding attention.
However, if we continue to evaluate beef ban only on the basis of masses, we would losing two very interesting points of discussion, relating to state finance. India is the highest exporter of beef after Brazil. The government is all set to lose almost 80000 a day from the beef trade which comes from the slaughter of approximately 400 cattle a day.
The BJP led government though, has maintained the double standards that it has been known to maintain. While it has banned beef in Maharashtra, it has not provided any sort of restraint to the slaughter of buffaloes. The move is strictly based on its Hindutwa agenda, resulting in the exclusion of buffalo slaughter from the bill, to satisfy the Hindus, who frequently immolate buffaloes to appease their gods. Several animal rights activists have questioned this blatant revival of the bill, on the grounds that why the government has left goats and buffaloes out of its purview, the government so far, have remained silent on such matters.
Previously, slaughter was allowed only on a “Fit for Slaughter” certificate, but with the advent of the present bill, this has also become obsolete. The Quereshi family, who control the beef trade in Maharashtra have been found saying that almost 20 lakh will lose their jobs as a result of the enactment. The common masses will face problems in their luxury too, as the leather prices will shoot up soon enough to outreach the hands of the masses. The people employed in the industry, with a turnover of over 50 crore will lose its sheen. Black marketing will try to fill up the void left by this. Industries which are dependent heavily on the bones and horns of cattle used for making sugar, cosmetics and medicines will also get affected. The prices of such products will rise, as the ingredients will have to be imported.
Even the restaurants, which frequently serve buffalo meat under the name of beef, are afraid f the virulent hindutwa forces. Many have been found saying that they will stop serving beef fearing the onslaught of Hindu forces; it is beyond discussion the number of restaurants which will get shutdown because of this.
The new law also has put the deadlock on the slaughter of cattle that have lost their productivity that is those which have stopped giving milk. And with the fluctuating monsoons creating havoc n the poor farmers, making their ends meet poses a new challenge as now; they cannot have a resell value for the useless cattle, which earlier used to get absorbed in the beef trade. This government’s remissness towards the poor demonstrates itself in clear light in matters such as this.
The problem is much grave in Haryana, where the annual beef consumption is only 4% and 5% respectively in rural and urban areas. The punishment for cow slaughter has been fixed at 3 to 19 years along with 10 lakh fine while that for beef export is 3 years jail with 30 to 70 thousand fines. The rightist forces there strictly negate the large demand from cattle owners to hold cattle fairs to get rid of the excessive cattle.
While the BJP government there has put forward its agenda that the ban will promote the conservation of the desi breed, the farmers find this argument shoddy as those have been long replaced by hybrids like the jersey or sahiwal, which have much higher productivity. With the steeply increasing number of cows and bulls in the state, the farmers are already facing problems there. The bullocks have been replaced by tractors while water buffaloes have replaced the bulls in transportation. The traditional cattle like the cows and bulls, as we can see, have long lost their utility. The water buffaloes, these days, are more important to the farmers than the bulls, which frequently harm the pregnant water buffaloes, extensively used for ploughing. And, with the present bill, the government has provided the bull owners with a free hit to extent and expand their business and numbers.
The number of cattle in the state is huge, so huge that if the ban is not raised quickly, the day is not far when cows will be difficult to store and housed. The statistics already put forward a hefty 1.5 lakh stray cows and 18 lakh household cows. The law comes from the womb of the government which has been found to be giving huge grants to the cattle shelters, which in turn earn them hefty revenue. With 400 cattle shelters in the state, the number is not expected to come down anytime soon. Huge donations flow to such farms based on the religious frenzy created by the hindutwa forces. The state has been suffering from repeated clashes because of the slaughter of cows.
Another business which has been nourished by the government is the dairy business. While the government and the regimen has been silent on the complaints from farmers that their crops are destroyed when dairy owners let third cows in their fields at night, it has continued its relentless endeavour to commercialise the milk trade. The telos in this regard being the procurement of high revenues from one of the most widely circulated and drank beverage in the country. However, the double standards are maintained here also, though the government, teaming up with the religious gurus, have provided with 50 % subsidy to those who vouch to open up dairy farms with desi breeds, they have neglected the fact that it is the hybrids which yield more milk. The government has been in a desperate attempt to religionise the state, ensuring conflicts between the majorities and minorities, through their wings.
The ban on beef is an attack on the minorities. It is a part of the long proposed ultimate dream of the Hinduwadi forces of the country, the establishment of a Hindu state. The progressive masses of the country need to join hands with the farmers and the lower economic strata of citizens to oppose and resist this horrific fanatic government, which in its short tenure, has shown intentions to religiously divide the country. The ban on beef will harm millions, not only the minorities but many Hindus as well who work in the trade. The government has to understand that it has no right to politicise the food habits of the masses.
