The Yale Globalist - Cow Consciousness

Cow Consciousness
Cow protection, a practice based on ancient Hindu texts, remains a hot political issue today.

Saturday, 04 April 2009 | Ashish Mitter

Cow protection, a practice based on ancient Hindu texts, remains a hot political issue today.

Hindu texts call for cows to be protected, but this practice conflicts with the daily needs of many in India (Flickr).

On a winter day in 2002, in the Indian village of Jhajjar, a group of upper-caste Hindu youths returning home from a public celebration on the Hindu holiday dusshera saw five lower-caste people skinning a cow. An argument erupted and rapidly escalated into a fight. Upper-caste villagers from neighboring hamlets quickly gathered at the scene. Before long, the five skinners were brutally murdered. The episode is now known across the country as the Jhajjar lynching.

despite the torrent of anger and sorrow over the deaths, many Indians sided with the mob. Years after the incident, the questions remain: How could tensions flare so violently over the corpse of an animal, and could it happen again?

The issue of cow slaughter has been a source of conflict in India for centuries. The dynamics of identity politics have made it a rallying point for upper-caste Hindus who venerate the cow, politicizing a long-standing cultural tension.

Cow protection can be traced back to ancient Hindu texts, and the myth of Kamadhenu in particular. Kamadhenu, the mother of all cows, belonged to the Brahmin sage Vashishta, who cherished her above all else. Following Vashishta’s example, many upper-caste Hindus still devote themselves to protecting cows.

At the same time, many lower-caste Indians and non-Hindus depend on the animal for their livelihoods and sustenance. lower-caste Hindus rely on beef as a source of cheap protein and have made it a staple of their diet. Cowhide is also the raw material for India’s leather industry, which is controlled by non-Hindu minority populations.

In this way, the spiritual beliefs of some in India conflict irreconcilably with the economic realities of others, and the tensions spill over into the political realm.

With India’s general elections looming this year, suspicions that nationalist Hindu groups will campaign as “cow protectors” to intimidate lower-caste voters pervade New delhi. Indeed, many believe upper-caste Hindu groups have used cow slaughter to solidify their increasingly tenuous hold over Indian politics. Professor dipankar Gupta, of the Center for the Study of Social Systems at Jawaharlal Nehru University in delhi, told the Globalist that the Jhajjar lynching was “a perfect example of prevailing prejudices and dominant authority structures violently asserting themselves against members of a vastly subjugated group.”

Spurred by Hindu nationalist organizations like the Sangh Parivar (translated roughly as the “Hindu Family”), leaders of the cow protection movement have resorted to incendiary rhetoric. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a constituent organization of the Parivar, has spoken out in particularly strong terms. When asked about the issue of cow slaughter, a spokesperson for the VHP told the Globalist: “Hindus view the cow as a mother figure. We revere her and worship her as one should worship their mother.” Explaining further, he said, “How would you like it if you saw your mother being abused by someone else? … Would you like it if you saw your mother for sale on the shelves of a supermarket?”

But not all Indians have such extreme views on the conflict. Zain Rehman, a Muslim who owns a large tannery in the North Indian town of Kanpur, seemed unperturbed by the inflammatory rhetoric of organizations like the VHP. In a conversation with the Globalist, he said, “A lot of people say a lot of things concerning cows, but business goes on. Everyone likes a good leather belt. Of course, we try our best not to offend our Hindu brothers.” But the fact remains that all but nine of India’s twenty-nine states, including Rehman’s own state of Uttar Pradesh, have banned cow slaughter. People who wish to use cowhide or eat beef must wait for cows to die of natural causes before doing so.

Evidence casts doubt on the effectiveness of existing bans, angering cow protection advocates. The ancient origins of the dispute ensure that there will always be underlying tensions between opposing sides, and as Hindu nationalist groups drag the cow slaughter controversy back to center stage in election season, political pressures show no signs of letting up today. The average Indian voter, however, beset by a slowing economy and security threats, may not have the mental space or time to give serious consideration to the politics of cow slaughter.

Ashish Mitter is a freshman in Jonathan Edwards College.

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