At the very outset let me make this thing very clear. I’m a staunch follower of my religious practices. I have full faith in the munificence of the Sanatan Dharm, which doesn’t forbid me to consume anything on mother earth. Yes! You got it right! Earth is deemed to be the universal mother according to our belief. I don’t devour beef for reasons entirely alluded by me. An infant whose mother can’t breast-feed or who has become orphan needs cow-milk to survive. Throughout the world, there are more than six billion consumers of milk and milk products. Over 750 million people live within dairy farming households, according to Wikipedia sources. Oxen or bullocks as we call are still employed for our agriculture. They are used for ploughing, for transport (pulling carts, hauling wagons and even riding), for threshing grain by trampling, and for powering machines that grind grain or supply irrigation among other purposes. They may be also used to skid logs in forests, particularly in low-impact, select-cut logging. These animals are usually yoked in pairs. Light work such as carting household items on good roads might require just one pair, while for heavier work; further pairs would be added as necessary.
It is for these contributions of the animals, I am aghast to their intake. It is my choice. I repeat myself that it is my wish that I don’t gorge on beef. But what about the person who salivates about beef? He also has his legal right to consume his favourite staple. I know self-appointed puritans will jump to my offence as it is presumed to hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindus. They should first learn that Hinduism isn’t a religion. It’s just a way of leading your life. The premier religion of the humans is Sanatan Dharm, which is liberal since its inception. There are age-old customs of sacrificing buffalo to Hindu Gods like Kali and Durga. Even in the Puranas, there was a reference of Durvasha Muni a sage to have cursed Shakuntala of marital separation. He used to devour calves. Thankfully for him, there wasn’t any ban on beef. I wonder if he would have born in present-day India, how many governments would have been cursed by him. He was instrumental in splitting the parents of Bharat, the king in whose name the nation has been christened. Can you all comprehend his tremendous influence? Even ages later in Mahabharata, Duryodhan appeased him and propelled him to visit the Pandavas to make life hell for them. By virtue of Lord Krishna’s intervention, the Pandavas were saved by a whisker.
Does the consumption of beef make someone a less god-fearing individual? I don’t find any logic. How does it hurt the sentiments of the majorities? A common rebuttal is that cow is our mother. Is it? Then could you please tell me that if cows are your mother, then by default aren’t the bulls your father? How do you all treat your parents at home? If they are heeded properly then why do we have so many old age homes in our country? Many a time we come across news pieces where a mother is treated like a maid at home. She’s kept confined within the four walls while the other family members make merry outside. If that is what the position of the mother in your society is then please spare these herbivorous creatures for God’s sake. Most of the cows are seen on the roads in abandoned conditions and the bulls are assumed to be a threat if you’re in the red. First, protect these animals then talk about the evils of beef ingestion. Most importantly please treat your biological mother as a human being if not a Goddess who gave you birth and brought you up.
I was perturbed by the Dadri incident where it was rumoured that someone had a forbidden cattle flesh in his house. The owner of the house was lynched to death by a mob. They found some meat in the refrigerator and seized it. But, the family insisted it was mutton. The crowd dragged the family outside. The two male members were repeatedly kicked, hit with bricks and stabbed. The elderly mother and wife were also attacked. The family’s Hindu neighbours tried to stop the mob but could not succeed. The police were called and they arrived an hour later. By then the head of the family was dead while his son his still battling for life.
I live in a country where molesters, rapists and killers are given every liberty to show their true colours. Did this man deserve to die such a painful death? The answer is simply no. Then why did he die? He died because we as a nation have failed to grow as individuals. We are still in a patriarchal society, conservative in our outlook and backdated in our mentality. We want everything according to our likes. The politicians haven’t spared this opportunity to showcase their oratory skills. The administration is trying to prove its competence by acting much after the tragedy took place.
If the cows would have been witty and if they ever had a say or authority of any kind, then I’m sure they would have declined to be called mother to these beasts. They are forceful mothers to us because we know what cattle are as they never complain and are undamaging. They can be tamed so easily that’s why we term a dim-witted individual as a cattle.
anirbanobserves 