THE BJP government in Karnataka state passed the Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill last month. There has been a strong opposition to this move from the civil society. Some critics have described the bill as “communal in intent and anti-farmer in consequence”.

Mr. Girish Karnad, the noted film director-actor, asked “As long as their choice of food is not affecting others, why its consumption should be prohibited?” It is interesting to note that Gujarat, where such a law already exists, has become a leading beef exporter in the country.

The bill, if implemented, would discourage farmers from rearing cattle and will lead to a shortage of milk.

It is not the first time that the debate around cow slaughter bills and beef eating is taking place. When BJP-led NDA was in power it went to the extent of appointing a committee to go into the matter and the committee concluded that cow protection should be made a fundamental right by setting up a Central Rapid Protection Force to prevent cow slaughter, and also to invoke POTA to detain those smuggling cows!

The cow obsession of BJP is a part of deeper agenda of targeting Muslim minorities as they plan to Brahminise the society by creating situations where beef eating becomes a taboo for large sections of society.

Needless to say, beef is amongst the cheapest sources of proteins for the poor, especially dalits and adivasis. Till a couple of decades ago there were many communities who were preferring beef to other expensive protein rich food. At the same time the minorities, Muslims and Christians, for whom, beef is neither a taboo nor a compulsion, are being looked down upon on this pretext.

Propaganda campaigns are being carried out under which minorities are being demonized on the issue of beef eating and cow slaughter. One recalls an incident in Jhajjer where 5 dalits were done to death on the suspicion of killing a cow and VHP’s Acharya Giriraj Kishore justified the event as saying that cow is so sacred for Hindus that killing of dalits does not matter. Similarly, Sheikh Rahman, a cattle trader, was killed in Orissa on the cooked up charge of selling cows for slaughter.

When Uma Bharati became the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister she converted her official residence into a sort of Goshala, (cow shed). Currently the products from cow dung and cow urine are being promoted as divine medicines to cure many ailments.

Even patents have been obtained for drinks based on cow urine. There are fears that this issue will be used to divide the communities. How can faith of a section of one religious community dictate the policies of the state is difficult to understand.

BJP propaganda says that beef eating was brought to India by Muslims. But most of the research into the sacred Hindu book, Vedas, has shown that beef eating was a norm in Vedic times. Studies by Mahmahopadhya Bharat Ratna Pandurang Waman Kane’s ‘Bhartiya Dharmgrantho Ka Itihas’ (History of Hindu Holy books), Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s “Did The Hindus Never Eat Beef?” and the contemporary Historian, D.N. Jha’s The Myth of Holy Cow, all point out that beef was a popular food in Vedic times.

After the advent of agricultural society, rise of Jainism and Buddhism the concept of non-violence came up in different forms and later after 8th century Brahmanism projected cow as its icon.

Since then cow is projected as sacred, as ‘mother’ and gradually large sections of Hindus started regarding it so. In deference to the sentiments of Hindus, most Muslims kings prohibited cow slaughter. Babar in his will to Humayun writes, “Son, Hindusthan has different religions. We should remove all the differences from our heart and do justice to each community according to its customs. Avoid cow-slaughter to win over the hearts of the people of this land. Don’t damage the places of worship and temples.”

During the freedom movement the communalists have been resorting to all the tricks to rouse emotions around matters of faith. So killing a pig and putting it in the mosque and cow slaughter have been their standard practice. It was during freedom movement that we see Mahatma Gandhi, a vegetarian, offering beef to his Muslim guest.

The writer is associated with Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai.