February 25, 2019 -
“... there is nothing more scientific and intelligent act than banning cow slaughter.”
– Jai Prakash Narayan, Indian Freedom Fighter
“Beef, it’s what’s for dinner” - American advertising slogan from the 1980’s
There are more than five million stray cows wandering the streets of India. They are more common than stray dogs. In one state alone there are more than a million stray cows, and that is greater than the population of Dallas Texas. You find them everywhere. They are in the streets, on the sidewalks, digging through garbage, in doors and alleyways, and laying down on freeways. These urban cows have no fear of cars, horns, or humans for that matter.
How did it get this way?
Cows, like other animals, have a long history of being worshiped as a symbol of Mother Earth by Hindu Traditionalists. ‘Prithvi’ is one of the many names for this god. As a result, Hindu’s venerate the animal as a physical manifestation of god on earth. And here is where the whole thing gets tangled in a knot.
Muslims have no such god and can and will slaughter cows for food and leather products. So, in the past, when a milk cow or bull was no longer useful or productive, they would be sold to non Hindu’s for processing. It costs quite a bit of money to maintain a cow and when you are a subsistence farmer, once the cow is no longer useful, it is a considerable burden.
However, India is currently undergoing a strong nationalism movement, so these cows have become a flashpoint. Muslims are given the epithet of “Meat Eaters” by Hindus. States are outlawing cow slaughter and there are roving bands of “Cow Vigilantes” who look for people trying to harm or sell cows and violently attack them. To harm or stress a cow is considered a direct assault on the ‘Gau Mata’ or ‘Cow Mother” and you can face considerable jail time and violence. This is not a joke.
As a result, farmers have little choice. Once the cow is no longer productive, they simply abandon them, often at night, in nearby villages to live out their lives roaming the streets. It is rather like simply letting a dog you no longer want out by the side of the road to fend for itself.
And people have died because of all of this craziness. As India has become more industrial, car accidents have soared leading to over 300 deaths in the last two years alone in just one Indian state. The cows are particularly hard to see at night and again have no fear of cars.
But that is not the worst of it. The cows here receive no medical care. They have not been vaccinated. As a result they are reservoirs for some of the most hazardous food and waterborne pathogens in the world. And at night, I know this sounds funny but it’s true, there are bands of people who illegally get milk from some of the cows and sell it surreptitiously to the poor. Since the cows eat garbage, this milk is polluted with heavy metals and is toxic to humans for consumption.
The government has mounted a feeble response. But instead of responsible animal husbandry, they have elected to spend millions on cow shelters. Think of them as orphanages for wayward cows. These “shelters” are very poorly managed and thousands of cattle die due to starvation and mistreatment all in the name of worship of these animals and political identity for the party currently in power.
So, this government policy has resulted in India becoming a net importer of milk. It should be an exporter.
It’s a mess, and since the entire package is wrapped up in both religion and politics it may never be fixed.
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