‘Driven by the communal agenda’
Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Ram Puniyani.
RAM PUNIYANI, an academic and a social activist who has been working for
communal harmony, has often spoken about the relationship between the
cow and politics. He is associated with the Centre for Study of Society
and Secularism and ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Democracy), an
organisation started in response to the 2002 Gujarat riots. Puniyani has
been engaged in understanding the global and local changes that have
given rise to communal violence. Recently, he edited a book, Cow on Indian Political Chessboard, a
collection of essays by D.N. Jha, Puniyani and others. Puniyani, who
has done extensive research on the issue of cow slaughter, says it is
being used as a divisive and political tool by communal forces. Excerpts
from an interview he gave Frontline:
Would you say that the ban on beef is politically motivated?
In March, the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] government in Maharashtra got
the President’s assent to the Maharashtra Animal Preservation
(Amendment) Bill, 1995, which seeks to ban the slaughter of bulls and
bullocks as well. The choice of the cow alone from the list of animals
for such a stringent stipulation proves the Hindutva agenda of the
ruling dispensation. Among the issues involved here are the dietary
choices of several sections of society, not only Muslims, and the
economic impact of a ban on those employed in the meat trade and the
supply of hide, bones and other parts of the dead cow, which are used in
different industries.
Some call it dietary fascism. Why has the 1995 Bill been resurrected
now? Did this issue not come up during the Congress-led Democratic Front
rule? Did the previous government choose to ignore the issue?
The Bill had been put on the back burner for the last two decades. The
BJP-Shiv Sena alliance had passed it then and sent it for President’s
assent. The combine has a political agenda and that is why the Bill has
been resurrected. It has no relevance for the economic life of the
State. On the contrary, it will deprive the poorer sections of society
of a rich source of protein, as beef is available at less than half the
price of other non-vegetarian sources of protein and nutrition. As the
issue had no political and emotive relevance for the previous
government, it did not revive it. As for dietary fascism, one recalls
the Beef Festival organised at Osmania University and a similar event
organised in Kerala recently.
Could you elaborate on the economic and social impact of the ban on beef?
The Kasai and Khatik communities’ livelihood depends on the storage and
sale of beef and beef products. This will get affected. While there is
no compulsion to eat beef in Islam, the ban will affect the dietary
practices of the poorer sections of the community. At an emotive level,
many Muslim groups have stated that they are willing to abide by the ban
to respect the sentiments of their Hindu brethren, at the cost of a
traditional source of employment and poor people’s food habits.
You have spoken and written about the cow and politics extensively. Could you briefly explain your point of view?
Hindutva politics has used the cow as its symbol. One recalls the
killing of Dalits in Gohana in Haryana on the charge that they had
killed cows. The killed youth were actually skinning dead animals. The
Vishwa Hindu Parishad [VHP] defended the killing of the Dalits. Cow
slaughter is a livelihood option and several people are employed in the
trade of cattle hide and bones. Cows that do not yield milk and bullocks
and oxen that are too old for agricultural operations are a burden on
farmers. The workers of the Deonar abattoir took out a procession in
Mumbai to protest against the Maharashtra government’s ban.
India is a secular democracy. Does the ban border on a majoritarian form of governance?
Pork is banned in many Muslim countries. In a secular country, the
dietary choices of all citizens should be respected. Such a move is
definitely a sort of majoritarian assertion of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak
Sangh [RSS] combine, of which the BJP is a part. Interestingly, Vinayak
Damodar Savarkar, the ideologue of Hindutva politics, was not in favour
of treating the cow as holy mother. But the RSS finds it a useful tool
for its political mobilisation. It is a symptom of the rise of
majoritarian politics.
This ban has the potential to disturb the agrarian economy. Your comments.
Driven by the communal agenda, this government is overlooking the
economic aspects of the issue and the employment and nutrition of the
poorer sections of society. That is what identity politics does to the
real issues of the people, particularly the deprived sections of
society.
Farmers will find it difficult to dispose of their ageing cows and
bullocks that cannot contribute to their income. It may affect the
supply of cattle hides and bones, which are needed for refining sugar.
Cow leather is superior in quality to buffalo leather.
Lastly, I would like to recall an interesting slogan floated by the BJP
during the recent election campaign. It was “Modi ko matdan, gai ko
jeevadan [Vote for Modi, give life to the cow], BJP ka sandesh, bachegi
gai, bachega desh [BJP’s message, the cow will be saved, the country
will be saved]”.
