COW SLAUGHTER IS MAINLY BULL

The image of `Gaomata’_  the white `Mother Cow’ with soulful eyes _  is beloved to many Hindus. The RSS, BJP and other opponents of cow slaughter would however be shocked to know that cows account for only 12% of all the bovines in India. They are not also the main producers of milk because female buffaloes account for 66% of India’s milch cattle and produce over 75% of the milk.

The 19^th Livestock Census of India, 2012 also shows that India’s cows and other female bovines are in no great danger. The census shows that their numbers increased by 7.16% to 216 million since the previous census of 2007. It is the males of the species that are threatened as their numbers declined by 18.6% to 84 million in the same period. As male bovines today account for just 30% of the cattle population it clearly shows that it is the bulls and not cows that are being butchered.

Cattle are a huge economic asset to almost every rural family and the meat industry including bovines, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry put money into the pockets of nearly every rural household and they will suffer great economic loss if the India’s legislators ban or restrict the slaughter and sale of meat products. Beef, that costs a third of mutton, is also the poor man’s protein consumed by some 200 million Dalits and other tribal communities. There will be a strong political backlash if religious sentiments take precedence over economic realities. Anyone familiar with rural India knows that while there are many Muslims in the meat business the majority are Hindu.

The census shows that two-thirds of India’s cattle are female. This is because the value of male bovines that used to be valuable as draft animals or for meat is declining. Few people are aware that it is male animals (or birds) that are mostly used for meat as the females are more valuable as breeders and for milk or eggs. If males are not used for ploughing or transport they are only useful for their meat or hides. This gender imbalance is increasing rapidly and a recent report from the Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering Bhopal shows that the share of draught animals for farm power on Indian farms declined from 44% in 1971-72 to a shocking 4% in 2012-13 as tractors and electric and diesel pumps had replaced them. Bullock carts are now rare in many areas.

Not surprisingly millions of males have been culled. The census data also shows that male buffaloes declined 17.8% to 16 million while females increased 7.99% to 92 million. There are therefore nearly 6 female buffaloes to every male. It is only in the states where beef is being eaten that this gender imbalance is less pronounced. If hasty legislation cuts into meat consumption it will seriously injure rural incomes regardless of religion.

Paradoxically, the keepers of India’s cattle themselves perpetuate the worst crimes against cattle. In rural areas the females are valuable but the males are worthless and need food and fodder that costs over Rs. 100 a day. They are therefore killed for meat where it is allowed but in many states are callously driven away to be devoured by dogs or wild animals. Several million pregnant female bovines are brought into Indian cities for fresh milk. Half the calves they deliver are males that are an economic liability so they are callously killed as soon as the milking steadies. They are not humanely slaughtered by a stun gun or by beheading but are usually tied in the sun to slowly die of thirst and hunger. The state wise data shows that cattle slaughter is widespread and that economic compulsions outweigh religious sentiment in almost every urban and rural area.

India also has a serious problem with roughly 80 million old and unproductive cattle that are callously driven away until they die of hunger or illness. They do not harmlessly forage on barren land but, driven by hunger, raid productive farms and face the wrath of farmers who mercilessly beat and even kill them. They are a huge economic liability that takes food and economic opportunities away from millions of needy people. India’s 299 million cattle also need roughly 30 million hectares for their grazing as well as an equal amount of additional land for their fodder requirements. This is a huge chunk out of India’s 190 million hectares of cropped land. If states legislate against beef consumption if will add many more unproductive cattle demanding land that is not available.

There is no Hindu scripture opposed to the eating of meat or even beef. In fact Indra, the tawny bearded supreme Vedic god, was specifically offered the best sides of beef. The Vedas, Mahabharat, Ramayana, Shastras and other ancient texts all endorse eating meat and beef was even specified as the daan, or offering, reserved for Brahmins.   

The sentiment against beef is essentially political as it was associated with Muslims. Cow protection became a religious statement when the first movement to protect the cow was started by the Sikh Kuka (Namdhari) sect in 1870. In 1882, Dayanand Saraswati founded the Gorakshini Sabha that challenged beef eating provoking a series of communal riots in the 1880’s and 1890’s. These led to further communal clashes where many were killed in Azamgarh in 1893, Ayodhya in 1912 and Shahabad in 1917. Beef eating thus moved from being a matter of diet to a defining icon of Hindu versus Muslim identity. Hindu chauvinism could however make the ban on beef into an symbol of Brahmin tyranny over Dalits.

Though most Hindus may abhor eating beef, cattle breeders have long subordinated their religious sentiments to their economic compulsions. There is a strong religious sentiment but politicians as well as officials, and intellectuals need to consider this complex subject before rushing into legislation.