366
Muslim massacres over the issue, beginning in 1893 with the so-called cow riots,
which continue to this day. The significant and telling problem is the government of
India’s hypocrisy on this issue. It is widespread. Throughout northeastern and
southwestern India, the slaughter of cows is allowed, whereas in five Indian states,
one can be sentenced to up to ten years in prison for killing a cow. Rules, ellipses in
monitoring or regulating, vary from state to state. It is fully legal to slaughter a
bovine in Kerala, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland,
Tripura, and Sikkim. In Karnataka, the cow—if “old”—can be killed. In Punjab,
slaughtered bovines are allowed to be exported if a permit is given. And throughout
most of the country, “buffaloes” can be slaughtered willy nilly.
15
When the above referenced October 2015 Indian Express article was published,
hundreds of comments flooded the Internet, shining a spotlight on the huge divisiveness of the issue throughout India, from “very tasty food,” “to the hypocrites,” to
“sell your God when you need money…” Years before, in 2010 the Indian public’s
attitude regarding the chasm between Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Buddhist and global
animal rights positions (fully bypassing such complicated indigenous beliefs as
those held by the.... Toda, among others) had led to the formation of a Cow Protection
Army (Rashtriye Gauraksha Sena), founded by Ashoo Mongia. The Army recognized that India “has about 3,600 legal slaughterhouses and 30,000 illegal ones,”
where a multitude of cows, in addition to buffaloes, are annually killed. Added to
that were an estimated “two million cows” that “are smuggled across a 2,400-mile
poorly-patrolled border into Bangladesh every year”.
16
Widespread anger is increasingly fueled by this living debate. Whether the
slaughter of cows can be vouchsafed or the archaic caste system still very much
prevalent across the sub-continent contributes to the ironic fact that the country
remains one of the largest exporters of meat in the world. Cows are considered
sacred by some Hindus who ignore the status of buffalo, but in 1988 an all-India
sociological survey revealed that, in fact, approximately 90% of all Hindus ate meat
at one time or another. Hence, there is anything but consensus on “sacred animals”
in India. As Supriya Nair has written, “The rising prevalence of this medieval spectacle in India today is not just a symptom of ancient pathologies. It is the most
spectacular outlet yet for Modi’s dog-whistle politics and the BJP’s Hindu- nationalist
15 See “The states where cow slaughter is legal in India,” October 8, 2015, The Indian Express, n.a.,
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-no-beef-nation/. Accessed April 13, 2020.
16 From “Selling the Sacred Cow: India’s Contentious Beef Industry – In a country where cattle are
considered sacred, they’re also paradoxically becoming a lucrative export,” by Sena Desai Gopal,
February 12, 2015, https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/selling-the-sacredcow-indias-contentious-beef-industry/385359/. Accessed April 14, 2020.
41 The Conical Temple of Konawsh
Muslim massacres over the issue, beginning in 1893 with the so-called cow riots,
which continue to this day. The significant and telling problem is the government of
India’s hypocrisy on this issue. It is widespread. Throughout northeastern and
southwestern India, the slaughter of cows is allowed, whereas in five Indian states,
one can be sentenced to up to ten years in prison for killing a cow. Rules, ellipses in
monitoring or regulating, vary from state to state. It is fully legal to slaughter a
bovine in Kerala, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland,
Tripura, and Sikkim. In Karnataka, the cow—if “old”—can be killed. In Punjab,
slaughtered bovines are allowed to be exported if a permit is given. And throughout
most of the country, “buffaloes” can be slaughtered willy nilly.
15
When the above referenced October 2015 Indian Express article was published,
hundreds of comments flooded the Internet, shining a spotlight on the huge divisiveness of the issue throughout India, from “very tasty food,” “to the hypocrites,” to
“sell your God when you need money…” Years before, in 2010 the Indian public’s
attitude regarding the chasm between Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Buddhist and global
animal rights positions (fully bypassing such complicated indigenous beliefs as
those held by the.... Toda, among others) had led to the formation of a Cow Protection
Army (Rashtriye Gauraksha Sena), founded by Ashoo Mongia. The Army recognized that India “has about 3,600 legal slaughterhouses and 30,000 illegal ones,”
where a multitude of cows, in addition to buffaloes, are annually killed. Added to
that were an estimated “two million cows” that “are smuggled across a 2,400-mile
poorly-patrolled border into Bangladesh every year”.
16
Widespread anger is increasingly fueled by this living debate. Whether the
slaughter of cows can be vouchsafed or the archaic caste system still very much
prevalent across the sub-continent contributes to the ironic fact that the country
remains one of the largest exporters of meat in the world. Cows are considered
sacred by some Hindus who ignore the status of buffalo, but in 1988 an all-India
sociological survey revealed that, in fact, approximately 90% of all Hindus ate meat
at one time or another. Hence, there is anything but consensus on “sacred animals”
in India. As Supriya Nair has written, “The rising prevalence of this medieval spectacle in India today is not just a symptom of ancient pathologies. It is the most
spectacular outlet yet for Modi’s dog-whistle politics and the BJP’s Hindu- nationalist
15 See “The states where cow slaughter is legal in India,” October 8, 2015, The Indian Express, n.a.,
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-no-beef-nation/. Accessed April 13, 2020.
16 From “Selling the Sacred Cow: India’s Contentious Beef Industry – In a country where cattle are
considered sacred, they’re also paradoxically becoming a lucrative export,” by Sena Desai Gopal,
February 12, 2015, https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/selling-the-sacredcow-indias-contentious-beef-industry/385359/. Accessed April 14, 2020.
41 The Conical Temple of Konawsh