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6/7/2017 India's Got Beef With Beef: What You Need To Know About The Country's Controversial 'Beef Ban'

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Asia / # ForeignAffairs
JUN 5, 2017 @ 09:01 PM 2,707 

India's Got Beef With
Beef: What You Need
To Know About The
Country's
Controversial 'Beef
Ban'
Leeza Mangaldas,  CONTRIBUTOR
FULL BIO 
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

A statue of a cow is seen during a protest by Indian Hindu [+]
devotees in Gujarat against the slaughter of a cow in the

India’s environment ministry under the
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
government called for a nationwide ban
on the sale and purchase of cattle from
animal markets for slaughter late last
month. This elicited fresh controversy

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6/7/2017 India's Got Beef With Beef: What You Need To Know About The Country's Controversial 'Beef Ban'

around an ongoing issue labeled the “beef
 
ban” in India.  
Over the last two weeks, several
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administrators in states for whom beef is
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an integral part of local cuisine have
aggressively opposed the order. Kerala
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fueling outrage from the BJP and Hindu
hardliners nationwide.

Hindu versus Muslim?

Cows are considered sacred in Hinduism,
India’s majority religion. Thus the trade
and consumption of beef has become a
very contentious issue ever since the BJP
came into power in 2014. Despite India’s
official status as a “secular” country, it is
worth bearing in mind that the ruling
party operates ideologically under the
aegis of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS), a Hindu fundamentalist
body, that has repeatedly pushed to
prohibit the slaughter of cattle across the
country.

Around 18 Indian states, (including
Gujarat, home to a large, vegetarian
Hindu population, and where Modi was
formerly Chief Minister), have already
banned the slaughter of cattle.

In April, the government even told the
Supreme Court that all cows will be
provided unique identification numbers,
with a tamper­proof plastic tag linked to a
national database, in an effort to prevent
cattle "smuggling" within India and
beyond its borders.

But millions of Indians, including Dalits
(formerly “untouchables” in the Hindu
https://www.forbes.com/sites/leezamangaldas/2017/06/05/indias­got­beef­with­beef­what­you­need­to­know­about­the­countrys­controversial­beef­ban/#6… 2/7
6/7/2017 India's Got Beef With Beef: What You Need To Know About The Country's Controversial 'Beef Ban'

caste system), Muslims and Christians,
 
have long consumed beef. It is one of the  
cheapest meats available, making it an
attractive source of protein for India’s
poor.

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Still, the "beef ban" is often pitted as a
Hindu­versus­Muslim issue, because
Muslims dominate the multi­billion dollar
meat business in India, which stands to
take a huge hit should a nationwide ban
on beef be fully implemented.

A statue of the Hindu god Krishna is seen at a cow shelter in [+]
the India  (Photo credit MONEY SHARMA/AFP/Getty Images)

Animal welfare at the cost of GDP
and citizens' rights?

Reports indicate that India exports beef
worth $4 billion annually, and that the
ban is already causing concern over a
potential rise in global beef prices due to

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6/7/2017 India's Got Beef With Beef: What You Need To Know About The Country's Controversial 'Beef Ban'

reduced supply, given that the country is
 
currently among the world’s biggest  
exporters of the meat by volume.

But arguably even more worrisome is the
impact on the social and religious
equilibrium of India’s hugely diverse and
complex society. Beef traders and
consumers have been frequently attacked
and even killed by Hindu vigilante cow
protection groups over the last two years.

Falling back on the complicated phrasing
of the notice, the government has claimed
that the order is aimed at preventing
unregulated animal trade, not policing
people’s food choices per se. But
regardless of the technicalities and the
fine print, the fact is that it has fueled
communalist sentiments, and if
implemented nationwide, will result in a
loss of millions of jobs.

Indian police remove a student protesting against Prime [+]
Minister Narendra Modi and a ban on the sale of cows for

Patriotic or unconstitutional?

Contrary to the perception of India in the
western imagination as a predominantly
vegetarian country, according to recent
National Sample Survey data, more than
70% of Indians above the age of 15 are
non­vegetarian. And while chicken is the
most widely consumed meat, even classic
beef items like burgers and steaks had
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6/7/2017 India's Got Beef With Beef: What You Need To Know About The Country's Controversial 'Beef Ban'

become popular on menus in top
 
restaurants across Indian cities in the last  
decade, where patrons include wealthy
urban Hindus.

While proponents claim the ban protects
traditional Hindu values, not all India's
Hindus are actually in favor of it. West
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,
and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan have vociferously opposed the ban
because their states traditionally consume
beef. Many Indian liberals
 have questioned whether such a ban is
constitutional, arguing that the policing of
food choices infringes on the basic rights
of citizens.

Unnecessarily divisive

Historically, Indian society, and Hinduism
as a religion, have been associated with
tolerance, compassion, and a "live and let
live" attitude. However in the prickly
social climate that our current
government has fostered, it's unfortunate
than an issue as seemingly innocuous as
dietary preference has become so
dangerously polarizing.

Many who don't eat beef but were
previously not concerned with others
eating it, have become roused into taking
a stronger, less tolerant stance than
before. While those who simply ate beef to
subsist, suddenly feel like they have a
point to prove.

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