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Extremism or fundamentalism is the bane of all religious creeds. It tarnishes almost all the major religions of the world — Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Zionism, some in deadlier ways than others. But in India of the 21st century where the reformist Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rules at the Centre and in several states of the Union, a new form of hindutva-driven extremism is manifesting itself: food fundamentalism.
The BJP chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, has set the food fundamentalism ball rolling by ensuring passage of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill (MAPA) 1995, under which consumption of bullock and ox meat is also banned (slaughter of cows was banned in 1976). Since bullocks and oxen are not regarded as holy by Hindus, Sunil Manohar, advocate-general of Maharashtra (who has since resigned), was obliged to provide logical justification for the ban. MAPA, he argued, was legislated to “prevent cruelty to animals”.
He should have known better than to advance this argument. If that was indeed the justification, then why not ban the slaughter of all animals? What about buffaloes, goats and sheep? Are these creatures more deserving to be taken to the slaughter house than bullocks and oxen? Though chicken and fish are considered by some to be lower forms of life, is there any scale to measure suffering?
Food traditions and habits are a tricky business. What is repulsive to one community is considered a delicacy by another. The French love snails and frogs’ legs; the majority of Indians would throw up if these gastronomic delicacies were served to them at the table. In parts of north-east India, as in some countries in the Far East, dogs, monkeys and snakes are commonly consumed. Pork is taboo for Muslims and some orthodox Brahmins refuse to eat anything that grows underground, such as potatoes and onions.
Although hindutva diehards may go blue in the face denying it, respected historians have conclusively established that beef was commonly consumed by Hindus of ancient India. The well-known historian, Dr. D.N. Jha (a former professor of Delhi University), in his authoritative treatise The Myth of the Holy Cow (2002) writes: “The holiness of the cow is a myth.... its flesh was very much a part of the early Indian non-vegetarian food regimen and dietary tradition.”
Holy cow myths and legends apart, what’s particularly insidious about MAPA is its sly targeting of the country’s 150-million strong Muslim community. With the meat trade dominated by this community, thousands of Muslim butchers have been rendered jobless by the ban. India is also the world’s largest exporter of beef, a position now likely to be undermined by the ban. Obviously, the Islamophobe RSS must be pleased by Fadnavis’ gesture, even if it goes against the economic interests of the country and our secular fabric.
Under MAPA, the slaughter of buffaloes is not banned. This has created another problem. Maharashtra government authorities are unable to tell the difference between buffalo and cow meat. Recently, Akram Quereshi, a Muslim meat vendor was arrested for selling beef, after a right-wing Hindu organisation filed a complaint against him. Tests eventually showed it was buffalo meat. Given the nature of our polity, MAPA is bound to be used by the police and municipal officials to harass and extort money from citizens of the beleaguered Muslim community.
A writ petition has been filed in the Bombay high court contesting the constitutional validity and legality of MAPA. One hopes the high court will reject MAPA, even though Sunil Manohar has argued that there’s no fundamental right to eat beef and that the State is fully justified in enacting this legislation to “prevent cruelty to animals”.
Nor is the BJP leadership’s newly discovered food fundamentalism restricted to Maharashtra. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has gone a step further and banned the serving of eggs in anganwadis — nutrition centres for infant children and lactating mothers. This is a particularly ridiculous decision given that in Madhya Pradesh, 52 percent of children are malnourished and only 35 percent of the population is vegetarian. Madhya Pradesh also has the largest number of tribals of any state and 72 percent of their children are malnourished. Since tribals have no inhibitions against eating eggs, Chouhan’s diktat is highly discriminatory against them, and a clear manifestation of caste and communal bias.
India’s myriad castes and communities have differing gastronomic traditions and food habits. Therefore any dietary restrictions imposed upon them abridge the fundamental rights of religious and cultural freedoms of one or other community, and also their right to follow trades and occupations of their choice.
Consequently, every government at the Centre and in the states has a constitutional duty to protect fundamental rights. There may be strong arguments in favour of the benefits of vegetarianism and the ill-effects of consuming red meat. But there’s no case for legally proscribing inherited gastronomic traditions and food habits in a nation which hosts a unique diversity of castes and communities.
(Rahul Singh is a former editor of the Reader’s Digest and Indian Express)