Rallying around the cow

We Indians must see the proposed ban on cow slaughter as another instance of politicians legislating on morality – as with bans on alcohol, marijuana, prostitution or gambling. A rule of law society can only emerge if we keep politicians away from moral issues, and make them realise the limitations of the law. The law cannot make people moral. Neither the law nor the state can accomplish anything positive – like, say, creating a moral society.Legislators must refrain from entering moral issues.

The first basic principle of any rule of law society is the right to property. If it is granted in full, it is seen that cows are but private property and the state and it’s laws cannot infringe this right. Thus, if someone treats his cow as worthy of worship, he is free to do so; while if someone else decides to eat his cow he too is to be left free to do so. According to this principle, those cows found straying upon public property should be seized and auctioned. Private property must be confined to private property and the sanctity of public property maintained. None of this is happening – and a blanket central ban on cow slaughter will only have disastrous consequences: cattle slaughter and cattle smuggling will continue illegally; and stray cattle will multiply on our streets, feeding on garbage and obstructing traffic.

India is a vast, diverse country. One enduring image I have of Bangalore is of a Christian butcher, his shop illuminated on Christmas, selling both beef and pork to his customers. Behind his chair was a sign saying ‘Jesus loves you’. Beef is sold openly all over Kerala. I read a collection of Marathi Dalit short stories which revealed that Dalits in Maharashtra eat beef. In Arunachal Pradesh they eat the mithun, a bovine creature. In Nagaland they eat monkeys and dogs. Our legislators seem to have been born in the back lanes of Brindavan and never stepped out.

Once during a dinner with the monks of Ramakrishna Mission, I was surprised to find meat, fish and eggs being served, and asked the head monk how come their order allowed monks to enjoy non-vegetarian food. He replied that Ramakrishna had never said anything against it. I then ventured to ask as to whether beef was prohibited, and I have never forgotten his reply. He said, “Ramakrishna said that what matters in life is what you do – your deeds – and not what you eat.”