Media Research Critique The Ongoing controversy About the Ban on Beef Almost every assumption and expectation I had traveling to India has been completely flipped upside down, in a extremely enlightening way. I came thinking I wouldn’t be drinking milk, I’d be seeing the happiest cows in the world, and I would have to switch coffee for tea. I have instead been drinking the tastiest organic milk I’ve ever consumed. I’ve seen starving cows eating trash to survive, and have had some of the best coffee I’ve ever tasted. The socio-cultural complexities of India have yet again blown my mind. Recently I read a rant against Keyur Joshi, the cofounder of a popular travel app called “Make My Trip.” He’s a popular figure in Indian media and considered the spokesperson and face of the more misunderstood Hindu community. Joshi stepped on many toes last week by using twitter and social media to express his opinions on the current controversy in Indian politics about the ban on beef. Considering the 80% of Hindus that make up India’s population, it’s no surprise that there is a strong push to make the slaughtering of cows’ illegal. Joshi tweeted “I am a strong supporter of Narendra Modi and a vegetarian for life. But I will now eat beef only in India to support freedom for food,” he wrote, and added, “If Hinduism takes away right to choice of food, I rather not be a Hindu.” The contradictions in this statement are plentiful. In my opinion, faith should not be minimized for the sake of politics. Also, I question how well he represents the Hindu community if he caused such an outrage by this social media scandal. He later went on to apologize for his careless expression of personal feelings. I couldn’t help but agree with this man’s logic. The person who I originally discovered this issue from was adamant against Joshi’s opinions. This person is educated and also highly religious like many professionals in India. Their point was that this was an attack on religious beliefs and minorities using beliefs as manipulation in order for government to systematically commercialize farming, and minimize the fact that cows are used widely for plowing here in India and has sustained many farmers in India. This made sense, but I couldn’t help but wonder what happens to the citizens who are not Hindu? After further research, I uncovered many complexities and contradictions from the beginning of Indian culture regarding the ban on beef. Including the possibility of the sacred cow never really being an original dogma of Hindu religion. “The bans contravene the Indian conception of secularism on two counts. First, they represent a departure from the ‘essentials of religion’ approach adopted by the Indian state in forming and upholding legislation with regard to religious belief and practice. In this departure, we see a treatment definitively in favour of an excessively narrow understanding of Hinduism.” (Sarkar, R.2016) If this idea of the sacred cow is not really an original and essential factor to Hindu religion, why is it such a controversy? Is this a case of religious imperialism and identity, rather than that of respect and discipline? I couldn’t help but compare this situation to the abortion issues we face in America. If the United States wasn’t such a melting pot of religions and cultures, would our already high percentage of Christian population be in a more advanced stage of the abortion ban? What would happen to all the people not practicing abstinence? This ongoing controversy is something I don’t have to ponder in America, I know exactly how this situation usually plays out, the endless cycle of religious extremist feeling unheard, disregarded and left to take matters in their own hands. “The political and religious machinery that is simultaneously driving cow protection and emboldening fringe elements such as cow vigilantes, all in the name of protecting India’s majority religious community—the Hindus.” (Sarkar, R.2016) Although not the most conventional or similar parallel, this cow ban felt too familiar to similar issues back home and the extremist nature seems to be universal. In this case the extremist would be as mentioned above the cow vigilantes. “Gau rakshaks (cow protectors) in various States take it upon themselves to punish those they believe to be harming the cow. It should be noted that it is the impression of violation of the cow, not necessarily the violation of the law, that drives these acts of retribution.”(Sarkar, R.2016) The results of these unmonitored groups in America lead to teen pregnancy suicides or unhealthy home abortions in order to avoid persecution from protestors. So, I wasn’t surprised when I read the answer to my burning question; what happens to the non-Hindu citizens? “In September 2015, a 50-year-old Muslim resident of the village Dadri in Uttar Pradesh was killed by a mob that had sought him out because he and his family were rumored to have been eating beef. “(Sarkar, R.2016) It’s heart breaking to read about these justified persecutions that completely violate the Indian constitution that ensures freedom of religion. Still I find myself conflicted by these varying perspectives but know that one thing is and has always been clear, religion is detrimental to politics and vice versa. References
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |