Why now, 'holy cow'

The issue of cow slaughter is a vexing one. In many cases, including more recently, the one of the lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq in Uttar Pradesh for alleged cow slaughter, which was never proven, there have been several instances where cow dealers in leather, a profitable export, have also been attacked. No less a person than Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly claimed that “cow slaughter is contrary to a Constitutional right”.

But is this what the Constituent Assembly actually decided?

Let us examine Article 48 of the Constitution itself. The title is: “Organisation of agriculture and animal husbandry — The State shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.” 

What is the import of this?

Firstly, Article 48 is a Directive Principle, which is not binding unlike a Fundamental Right, but can be cited in law. Secondly, this Article states the need “for preserving and improving the breeds...”

Has this been done?

Lakhs of cattle, including cows, search for food, including garbage. How many cow shelters actually “improve” the breeds? 

Thirdly, the prohibition on the slaughter of bovines extends to “other milch and draught cattle.” 

This includes buffaloes, mithun and yaks, the latter two common in the hill states. So, Article 48 does not extend to only cow slaughter, but to the widely used and common buffalo, apart from other bovines. 

Though this was decided in the Constituent Assembly, the Congress later joined the “cow slaughter” bandwagon. Congress leaders have publicly stated how they were instrumental in banning cow slaughter – but this claim is contrary to the Constitution and the political position of the earlier Congress stalwarts, as any reading of the Constituent Assembly debates will show. 

In Hindutva times though, the Sangh Parivar will use whatever issue it can to milk sentiments – including cow slaughter. 

It is a great pity and tragedy that the secular Congress has continued to follow in the footsteps of obscurantists, at the cost of rationalist positions. 

Nor, sadly, have the bovines flourished much. Only a fraction of the bovine breeds are improved. Attacking – even killing – people allegedly guilty of cow slaughter is easier political mileage. 

But the cow slaughter issue is deeply linked to the politics of the Sangh Parivar. Hindutva bases itself as a neo-Brahmanical Hinduism. Therefore, all its “god-men”, including politicians like Yogi Adityanath, are particularly sensitive of the bhakti type of a secular Hinduism. 

Most are in fact relatively unaware of the Buddhist, Sikh and Sufi traditions. 

But this is the popular Hinduism on the ground. It has also led to sections of some Hindu traditions in the South, who see themselves as part of another tradition, which includes another reading of popular culture. The Lingayat tradition sees itself as another religion all together. Interestingly, during the Karnataka Assembly elections, even the BJP supported the acceptance of Lingayats as a separate religion. Gauri Lankesh, a journalist and activist, was active among the Lingayats. One of her suspected assassins apparently told the Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT) that Gauri was targeted because she was “anti-Hindu”. 

Of course, as bhakti saints like Kabir and Mirabai pointed out through their songs and verses, various folk traditions and experiences were very much part of the culture of the times. Many of these traditions are part of the holy Guru Granth Sahib. Many of these mixed experiences were reflected in the verses of Ghalib and Baba Fareed. Many of these traditions still echo in several parts of India today.

Alongside a more upper caste, neo-Brahmanical dependence on Sanskrit texts, there have been, and are, contestations on these traditions of tolerance and peace. A major tussle, dating from pre-Independence India, is still on and it reflects the many contradictions our age continues to experience. 

Gandhi, for example, was a resolute supporter of the caste system as a “unifier” of Hinduism. This was strongly challenged by Dr BR Ambedkar who, especially in his book Annihilation of Caste, squarely attacked the caste system as extremely oppressive and anti-democratic. 

Echoes of this tension were demonstrated in Maharashtra recently, where Sangh and Dalit groups clashed over a 200-year-old battle, as an affirmation of their modern identity and culture. In all this, it is not the case that the cow is not an issue. Irrespective of the Constitution’s position, Hindutva and other forces have fore-fronted cow slaughter issues, almost all others lying low. Europeans and the US may be taken aback – but, in modern India, the cow has become a major bearer of contesting traditions and folk religion. 

The political class is yet to come to clear terms over this. 

And many of these debates are seen as solely academic – but they are not.

Also read: Jharkhand lynching: Blaming the victim again