Book Excerpt: 'The State Practices And Politics Around the Sacred Cow' – The Quint

Within the public area, the outcry towards mob-lynchings was quickly trumped by cries for cow-protection and beef ban.

Regardless of proof of beef consumption not being confined to Muslims, liberal intellectuals joined the refrain with the Hindutva fanatics in singling them out.

Arguments in favour of the ban have been laid out on a number of grounds.

That there was no Islamic injunction to compulsorily eat beef, an accurate textual interpretation, they nonetheless sought finally to maintain the talk throughout the sphere of faith, whereas being purposefully blind to the affiliation of beef commerce and its consumption with the livelihood query and dietary practices of sure castes and communities.

Furthermore, Muslims have been reminded that cow slaughter was proscribed by regulation and as residents of the nation, they have been responsibility certain to abide by it.

The inherent statism apart, the argument conveniently ignored the circumstances during which such legislations got here into existence, and the way the legal guidelines additionally exempted sure class of animals for slaughter, apart from, many state governments refused to enact any blanket ban.

One other act of concealment is when argument favoring beef-ban is camouflaged within the language of stopping cruelty towards animals.

In Might 2017, the Union Environ ment Ministry notified new guidelines below the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960) that imposed a blanket ban on the sale of all types of cattle together with cows, calves, bullocks and buffalos at livestock markets for the aim of slaughter.

The transfer, nevertheless, might simply be learn as an try to usurp the area of the state governments in issues regarding the slaughter of cattle.

Furthermore, this transfer of the central authorities to take the quilt of animal rights is suspect for 2 extra causes. One, an ethical name for stopping brutality towards animals couldn’t be restricted to the cattle. It could ideally entail proscribing the slaughter of all species of animals, which is actually not on the playing cards.

(Tanweer Fazal is professor of sociology on the College of Hyderabad. His pursuits lie within the historical past and theories of nationalism, minority research and the research of state practices and collective violence).