Tuesday 7 April 2015

Beef Eating and Some facts, Controversies and my point of view / Vijay Shanker Singh


The beef eating has become a issue of debate now. Some days before Justice Katju, an ex judge of Hon’ble Supreme Court has confessed that he ate beef and advocated it. Some days earlier Rishi Kanpur admitted that he was against beef banning. Rishi told, don’t mix food with religion.

There are two lobbies of pro beef and anti beef eaters. Each lobby have their own logics. As in words of Prof Amartya Sen, we are wonderful argumentative Indian. We have ample and logical ancient source to prove our points. Some years back Dr DN Jha a prominent historian wrote a book titled, Beef eating in ancient India. He gave many illustrations from scriptures including Vedas in support of his theory that beef or calf eating was very much popular and a prominent dish of feast in ancient times. I am not going to counter him. He may be correct he may not be correct. It is a case of academic discussion.

There is no evidence that Brahmanism, the main religion during the Buddha’s time, taught vegetarianism. Vedic sacrifices in which animals were slaughtered were still being practiced and are frequently mentioned in the Tipitaka (e.g. Anguttara Nikaya I,66; II,42; IV,41). However, the Vinaya mentions what were called maghata, certain days of the month when animals were not slaughtered and meat was not available in the markets (Vinaya I,217). The Jataka also mentions maghata and adds that they would be announced by the beat of a drum (Jataka IV,115). Were these non-killing days a result of a general unease about meat eating, or due to the influence of Buddhism, or of Jainism? We don’t know. The Kama Sutra (3rd cent CE?) points out that alcohol and dog meat increase a man’s virility but then adds, somewhat halfheartedly, that a circumspect man would nonetheless take neither. It also gives recipes for aphrodisiacs, many of them including animal flesh and organs. So once again we have an ambiguous attitude towards consuming meat.

But in India, cow or her family supposed to be a most pious and worshipped animal. It has a sentimental place. The word holy always comes before cow. From milk to cow dung, it is being used in many religious karmkaand. In my opinion, beef may not be a sentimental issue for those who ate or want to consume, but it is a sentimental issue for millions who are living in this world. That sentiments must be honoured. After all, what you get in temple, mosque or in church. All are buildings and structures of concrete. The difference is only the faith and sentiments. If you destroy all the places of worship, the God will be remain there if you have faith. So the faith is important not the animal.

So my dear advocates of beef eaters, no doubt , what to eat or what not to eat is a personal issue for you and me too. But you have no right to hurt the sentiments of millions, only on the name of the dish which you relish. So most of the Mughal emperors banned cow slaughtering. The first farmaan issued by Bahadur shah jafar on the eve of 1857 was to ban the cow slaughtering. So dear friends think over it and don't make this issue controversial. 

In Uttar Pradesh cow slaughtering is a punishable offence. And we as a policeman  always took it seriously. My friends from police and administration will be agree with me, that an information about a cow slaughtering is more sensitive than an information of a murder. Murder has no visible impact on the society,  if it has a not a cause of personal enmity . But a slaughtered cow can ignite a riot and surely it will create a serious law and order problem. We often use the Gangster act or NSA as a preventive measure to curb this crime in UP.  In spite of these steps this crime has not been uprooted yet.

I was posted at Mathura in 83 as DSP there. There was a place named Kosi kalan on the Mathura Delhi highway on Hariyana border, a weekly painth or bazaar was being organized for sales and purchase of cow and bulls. After the declaration of cow slaughtering illegal in UP, where these cattle goes ? They were bought and transported to Kolkata. In WB cow slaughtering is not an offence. This is the major problem. Though Govt and Police often check it, and try to stop it, but still it is happening. Police has also some hands in gloves with smugglers. Kosi is simply an example. Many more places are known to me.

I am in the favour of making cow slaughtering a punishable offence not as a religious  angle, but, because it will be a major cause of igniting communal fire. I always thought the communal harmony is the basis of development, progress and united India. You can play with someone's sentiments. But you can not and must not play with fire. Fire has no religion, no caste and no region. It can burn all of us.
Suppose I have been invited to a traditional Vaishnav family for dinner. They are not even eat onions and garlics. If I demand onion as a salad, it may offence the feelings of my host . I relish non veg dishes. But I never ate any thing except mutton and chicken . Not even pork. Why ? I have not tried any thing except those. Just due to the age old thinking that beef must not be consumed. So my dear I just want to say please learn to honour the sentiments of others. If you can not honour any one then at least never tease them.

Why Bahadur shah zafar had banned beef eating in his first firmaan ? Why the upsurge of 1857 has burst on the kaartoos theory of beef and pork’s fat ? The long history of slaveness had not compelled any one to throw out the nascent Company rule, but a rumour of kaartoos ignited a rebellian . You free to eat, free to express , free to talk , free to do anything, but when this liberty is with you then you must think like a responsible citizen. The unity and integrity of the country is supreme. The health of the social fabric is supreme. If something hurt someone so blantetly , then it must be avoided.

That's why I always condemn the posts which only create a rift between communities on communal lines. Learn to live with harmony.
-vss .


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