Indians are traditionally anti-cow SLAUGHTERERS

The only time I read renowned Hindi author

Munshi Premchand's Godaan was when I took

my son's Hindi lessons for CBSE 9th Grade.

Being an urban woman, my reflection of

agrarian realism was very limited. But the book

indeed gave me a glance into the lives

of farmers and their most trusted

friends, i.e., cattle. Cattle slaughter

is a controversial topic in India today

because of cattle's traditional status

as an endeared and respected living

being to many in Hinduism, Sikhism,

Jainism, and Buddhism, in contrast

to cattle being considered as a

religiously acceptable source of meat

by many in Islam and Christianity.

More specifically, cow slaughter has

been shunned because of a number of

reasons such as cattle being associated

with Lord Krishna in Hinduism and

being respected as an integral part

of rural livelihoods and an essential

economic necessity. Historically, cattle

slaughter has also been opposed by

various Indian religions because of

the ethical principle of Ahimsa (nonviolence)

and the belief in the unity

of all life. I wonder what wrong did

other animals do to be deprived of such a status in India

besides getting protected under the Prevention of Cruelty

to Animals statutes. It is surprising that the three animals

prayed to the most are Nandi, the bull, and Kamadhenu,

the Divine cow; Hanuman, the Monkey God; and the Snake

God. Wonder what happens to swans, rats, yaks, tigers, lions, and peacocks (these being associated with Goddess

Saraswati, Lord Ganesha, Lord Yama, Goddess Durga, Lord

Kartikeya, etc.). Perhaps, they are left to projects like save

tigers and lions.

Article 48 of the Constitution of India

mandates the state to prohibit the

slaughter of cows and calves and

other milk and draught cattle. On

October 26, 2005, the Supreme Court

of India, in a landmark judgment,

upheld the constitutional validity of

anti-cow slaughter laws enacted by

different state governments in India.

Twenty-four states in India currently

have various regulations prohibiting

either the slaughter or sale of cows.

The laws governing cattle slaughter in

India vary greatly from state to state.

The "preservation, protection and

improvement of stock and prevention

of animal diseases, veterinary

training and practice" is Entry 15 of

the State List of the Seventh Schedule

of the Constitution, meaning that

state legislatures have exclusive

powers to legislate the prevention of

slaughter and preservation of cattle.

Some states allow the slaughter of

cattle with restrictions like a "fit-for-slaughter" certificate

which may be issued depending on factors like age and

gender of cattle, continued economic viability etc. Others

completely ban cattle slaughter, while there is no restriction

in a few states.

On May 26, 2017, the Ministry of Environment of the

Indian Central Government led by Bharatiya Janata

Party imposed a ban on the sale and purchase of cattle

for slaughter at animal markets across India under the

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals statutes. The scope,

extent, and status of animals in ancient India are

subjects of scholarly dispute. Many interpret ancient

Hindu texts as supporting animal sacrifice. For example,

cattle including cows were neither inviolable nor revered

in the ancient times as they were later. A Gryhasutra

recommends that beef be eaten by the mourners after a

funeral ceremony as a ritual rite of passage. In contrast,

according to Marvin Harris, the Vedic literature is

contradictory, with some suggesting ritual slaughter and

meat consumption, while others suggesting a taboo on

meat eating.

Animal sacrifice was rejected, and

the protection of animal life was

championed by Jainism on the

grounds that violence against life

forms is a source of suffering in the

universe and a human being creates

bad karma by violence against

any living being. The Chandogya

Upanishad mentions the ethical

value of Ahimsa or non-violence

towards all beings. By the midfirst

millennium BCE, all three

major Indian religions – Buddhism,

Hinduism, and Jainism – were

championing non-violence as an

ethical value and something that

impacted one's rebirth. According to

Harris, by about 200 CE, food and

feasting on animal slaughter were

widely considered a form of violence

against life forms and became a

religious and social taboo.

The cow has been a symbol of wealth

in India since ancient times. Cow

veneration in ancient India "probably originated from the

pastoral Aryans" in the Vedic era, whose religious texts

called for non-violence towards all bipeds and quadrupeds,

and often equated the killing of a cow with the killing of a

human being, especially a Brahmin. The hymn 10.87.16 of

the Hindu scripture Rigveda (~1200–1500 BCE) condemns

all killing of men, cattle, and horses and prays to God Agni

to punish those who kill.

The veneration of cow is seen in the Ramayana as well as

Mahabharata.

According to Ludwig Alsdorf, "Indian vegetarianism is

unequivocally based on ahimsa (non-violence)" as evidenced

by ancient smritis and other ancient texts of Hinduism. To

the majority of modern Indians, states Alsdorf, respect for

cattle and disrespect for slaughter is a part of their ethos

and there is "no ahimsa without renunciation of meat

consumption."

Jainism is against violence to all living beings,

including cattle. According to the Jain sutras, humans must

avoid all killing and slaughter because all living beings

are fond of life, they suffer, they feel pain, they like to live,

and long to live. All beings should help each other live and

prosper, according to Jainism, not kill and slaughter each

other.

The texts of Buddhism state ahimsa to be one of five ethical

precepts, which requires a practicing Buddhist to "refrain

from killing living beings." Slaughtering cow has been a

taboo, with some texts suggesting taking care of a cow is a

means of taking care of "all living beings." Cattle is seen as

a form of reborn human beings in the endless rebirth cycles

in samsara; protecting animal life and being kind to cattle

and other animals are good karma.

Cow, buffalo, and ox are an integral

part of rural Sikh livelihoods, and

these are never slaughtered for

consumption by any method but

are treated with respect and beef is

strictly avoided. Amritdhari Sikhs, or

those baptized with the Amrit, have

been strict vegetarians, abstaining

from all eggs and meat, including

cattle meat. Ranjit Singh, founder of

the Sikh Empire and Maharaja from

1801 to 1839, banned cow slaughter

throughout his domains.

Cattle slaughter, in accordance with

the Islamic custom, was practiced

in the Mughal Empire under its

Sunni rulers with a few exceptions.

Religiously liberal emperor Akbar,

out of respect for the demographic

majority of Hindus, criminalized

cow slaughtering. In one case, Akbar

banished his high official for the

offense of cow slaughter. Mughal

emperor Humayun stopped eating

beef after the killing of cows in Hindu territory by his

soldiers led to clashes, according to the Tezkerah al-Vakiat.

Later, Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1605–1627) imposed a

ban on cattle slaughter for a few years, not out of respect

for Hindus but because cattle had become scarce.

With the advent of British rule in India, eating beef

along with drinking whiskey, in English-language

colleges in Bengal, became a method of fitting in with

British culture. Some Hindus, in the 1830s, consumed

beef to show how they "derided irrational Hindu customs,"

according to Metcalf and Metcalf. The reverence for

the cow played a role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857

against the British East India Company. Hindu and Muslim

sepoys in the army of the East India Company came to

believe that their paper cartridges, which held a measured

amount of gunpowder, were greased with cow and pig fat.

The consumption of swine is forbidden in Islam. Since

loading the gun required biting off the end of a paper cartridge, they concluded that the British were forcing them

to break edicts of their religion.

During Bahadur Shah Zafar's brief reign as emperor, killing

of a cow was made a capital offense. Cow slaughter was

opposed by some prominent leaders of the independence

movement such as Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak,

Lala Lajpat Rai, Madan Mohan Malviya, Rajendra Prasad,

and Purushottam Das Tandon. They supported a ban on

cattle slaughter once India gained its independence from

the colonial British.

In 1940, one of the Special Committees of the Indian

National Congress stated that slaughter of cow and its

progeny must be totally prohibited.

In 1944, the British placed restrictions on cattle

slaughter in India on the grounds that the shortage

of cattle was causing anxiety to the government. The

shortage itself was attributed to the increased demand for

cattle for cultivation, transport, milk, and other purposes.

It was decided that in respect of slaughter by army

authorities, working cattle as well as cattle fit for bearing

offspring should not be slaughtered. Accordingly, the

slaughter of all cattle below three years of age, male cattle

between three and ten years of age, female cattle between

three and ten years of age, which are capable of producing

milk, as well as all cows which are pregnant or milking was

prohibited.

During the British Raj, there were several cases of communal

riots caused by the slaughter of cows. A historical survey

of some major communal riots, between 1717 and 1977,

revealed that out of 167 incidents of rioting between

Hindus and Muslims, although in some cases the reasons

for the provocation of the riots was not given, 22 cases were

attributable directly to cow slaughter.

Post-Independence

The central government, in a letter dated December 20,

1950, directed the state governments not to introduce total

prohibition on slaughter stating, "Hides from slaughtered

cattle are much superior to hides from the fallen cattle and

fetch a higher price. In the absence of slaughter, the best

type of hide which fetches good price in the export market

will no longer be available. A total ban on slaughter is

thus detrimental to the export trade and works against the

interest of the Tanning industry in the country."

In several cases such as Mohd. Hanif Qureshi v. State of

Bihar (AIR 1959 SCR 629), Hashumatullah v. State of

Madhya Pradesh, Abdul Hakim and others v. State of Bihar

(AIR 1961 SC 448), and Mohd. Faruk v. State of Madhya

Pradesh, the Supreme Court has held that "a total ban was

not permissible if, under economic conditions, keeping useless bull or bullock be a burden on the society and

therefore not in the public interest." The clause "under

economic conditions, keeping useless (...)" has been studied

by the Animal Welfare Board of India which determined

that the fuel made from cow dung for household cooking

purposes in the Indian society suggests that the cattle is

never useless while it produces dung.

In May 2016, the Bombay High Court upheld the ban on

cow slaughter in the state of Maharashtra.

The Supreme Court of India heard a case in 2017 which

petitioned the court to order a ban on the common illegal

treatment of animals during transport and slaughter. In

February 2017, the court ordered state governments to stop

illegal slaughterhouses and set up enforcement committees

to monitor the treatment of animals used for meat and

leather. The court also ruled, according to a Times of India

report, that "it was evident from the combined reading of

Articles 48 and 51- A(g) of the [Indian] Constitution that

citizens must show compassion to the animal kingdom.

The animals have their own fundamental rights. Article

48 specifically lays down that the state shall endeavor to

prohibit the slaughter of cows and calves, other milk and

draught cattle."

There is a lack of uniformity among state laws governing

cattle slaughter. The strictest laws are in Delhi, Gujarat,

Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, and

Uttar Pradesh, where the slaughter of cow and its progeny,

including bulls and bullocks of all ages, is completely

banned. Most states prohibit the slaughter of cows of all

ages. However, Assam and West Bengal permit the slaughter

of cows of over the ages of 10 and 14 years, respectively.

Most states prohibit the slaughter of calves, whether male

or female. With the exception of Bihar and Rajasthan, where

age of a calf is given as below three years, the other states

have not defined the age of a calf. According to the National

Commission on Cattle, the definition of a calf being followed

in Maharashtra, by some executive instructions, was

"below the age of one year." In Delhi, Goa, Puducherry,

Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, violation of state laws on cattle

slaughter are both cognizable and non-bailable offences.

Most of the other states specify that offenses would be

cognizable only. The maximum term of imprisonment

varies from 6 months to 14 years (life-term) and a fine from

'1,000 to '5,00,000.

This issue has become emotional to a majority of Indians.

It would be very imperative if the same mindset and

feeling of goodness prevails upon people in protecting other

animals and above all human beings. Surprising despite

being a law under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, we

do not give importance to the life of a human being. Holy

cow!

Disclaimer – The views are that of the author and not of the Wockhardt Group. The article is based on extensive research of the author.