Delhi: Cows have been giving the BJP a tough time in poll-bound Gujarat, with two of the state government’s cattle-related measures backfiring against it.
Over the last few days, a four-legged ‘occupy movement’ of sorts played out in parts of Gujarat, with thousands of cattle not just taking to the streets, but entering government buildings, courts, and even a district magistrate’s office.
These bovine mobs in Banaskantha and Patan in north Gujarat were unleashed, starting last Friday, by various charitable trusts that manage gaushalas (cow shelters).
The reason: to protest the government’s delay in releasing funds allocated to cow shelters under a scheme called the Mukhyamantri Gau Mata Poshan Yojana. By Sunday, 1,750 gaushalas had left their 4.5 lakh cattle free to roam the streets.
The trusts have given the state time until 30 September to release funds and resolve the issue. If this does not happen, they have declared they will launch a Gau Adhikar Yatra (cow rights procession) across the state from 1 October, where they will urge people to refrain from voting for the BJP.
But this is not the only cow-related roadblock that the Gujarat government is facing perilously close to elections.
Last week, the state government had to withdraw the Gujarat Cattle Control (Keeping and Moving) in Urban Areas Bill, 2022 due to pressure from the cattle-rearing Maldhari community. The withdrawal came in the wake of massive protests against the bill, which sought to restrict cattle movement in urban areas.
However, the Maldhari, who have traditionally been BJP voters, are still not appeased and are demanding that more benefits should be given to the community and their cattle.
Here is a look at both protests, why they matter, and how the BJP government is trying to manage them.
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Why were thousands of cattle released on the streets?
The Gujarat government had announced a cattle welfare scheme called the Mukhyamantri Gau Mata Poshan Yojana in its 2022-23 budget in March. Under this scheme, Rs 500 crore had been allocated for the maintenance of gaushalas and panjrapoles (a facility that houses old and sick cows). The scheme also included financial assistance of Rs 30 per cow to registered trusts in the state.
However, these benefits are reportedly yet to materialise.
“Seven months have passed since the budget presentation. But despite promises from the Chief Minister, funds have not been released,” Banaskantha Panjrapole trustee Kishor Dave told ThePrint.
He alleged that the Gujarat government was providing only “lip service” to cattle welfare by not releasing the funds in a timely fashion, and contrasted it negatively to other states, like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, and Rajasthan, where he claimed cows and their gau rakshaks (cow protectors) were getting adequate government assistance.
If the funds are not released by 30 September, the irate trusts plan to ramp up their protests.
“Five thousand gau palaks (cattle rearers) will protest during the Prime Minister’s visit on 30 September if the issue is not resolved by then,” said Jagdish Mali, spokesperson of the agitation said.
He added that a Gau Adhikar Yatra would also be organised where the protesters would urge people to not vote for the BJP.
“This is not about political parties, but the BJP brands themselves as a party that cares for the cow mata. How will the cow mata survive without food? They have not even released a drug for lumpy skin disease,” he said.
Gujarat’s Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cow Breeding, Raghavji Patel, has reportedly said that he has discussed the issue with the Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and BJP state president C.R. Paatil.
He has assured protestors that there will be a resolution “in a day or two” and that the delay was caused by “administrative tangles”.
Who are the Maldhari and why are they protesting?
The Maldhari are a rural pastoral community that rear and breed cattle. They are classified as OBC in the state. After the Koli and Thakor communities, they are the third largest OBC group in the state.
Gujarat’s population of 60 lakh Maldharis, concentrated in Banaskantha, Kutch, Saurashtra and Gir, have an impact in 46 assembly constituencies and have largely supported the BJP in previous elections. Their voting will be crucial and closely watched this year due to the protests.
Over the years, the community has faced an existential crisis as most cattle-grazing spaces have been occupied by urban infrastructure. After Maldhari villages merged into the cities they started supplying milk as a means for survival.
Matters started coming to a head this April when the government passed the Gujarat Cattle Control (Keeping and Moving) in Urban Areas Bill, 2022
The provisions of the cattle control bill included licensing, regulating, and prohibiting cattle movements in urban areas. The bill also outlined punishments such as impounding cattle, and a hefty penalty or arrest of the offending gau palak.
Community leaders were outraged at the provisions in the bill that outlined the requirement of licences from civic authorities to keep animals and the tagging of the cattle. The proposed punishment for not tagging the cattle within 15 days was jail time for a year or a fine of Rs 10,000 or both.
After initial protests in March and April by the community, C.R. Paatil announced that the bill would be withdrawn from the assembly.
But the community demanded that the Bill should be scrapped altogether and additionally called for land being especially demarcated for the rearing of cattle.
“They’ve distributed grasslands to businessmen to build their offices. How will the cattle survive without grasslands?” asked Nagji Desai, the president of a community association called the Maldhari Ekta Samiti, and the leader of the protests.
He told ThePrint that the only resolution for the “cattle-man conflict” was for authorities to reserve an area for the community and allocate grasslands for the cows.
On 18 September, Maldhari leaders organised a mahapanchayat in Gandhinagar district in protest, with around 50,000 community members reportedly in attendance. After this, milk supply was disrupted and milk was spilled onto roads in several parts of Gujarat on 21 September. Violence broke out across the state, from Surat to Banaskantha.
Cowing to the pressure, the government withdrew the bill during the Gujarat Assembly’s Monsoon session on 21 September.
“This is an influential community [Maldhari] that owned land in the villages. But due to urbanisation their land has shrunk and authorities are pushing them into the corners of cities. This is the main reason for their resentment,” said an Ahmedabad-based professor of political science who did not wish to be named.
Vallabhbhai Kathiria, BJP MLA and former chairman of the Gau Seva Ayog, told ThePrint: “Only 30 Maldhari villages came under the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, now they want space for themselves and their cattle. The government has assured them that their issue will be addressed but their agitations continue.”
(The Ahmedabad-based professor’s name has been withheld at her request)
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)
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