The BJP’s gau yagna may have witnessed a poor turnout, but cow, beef and slaughter are set to become part of the build-up to assembly elections in Karnataka.
Bengaluru: When the ‘Cow Protection Cell’ of the Karnataka BJP organised a ‘gau mahayagna’ in Bengaluru this weekend, it was hoping that a few thousand supporters would turn up and give a push to a contentious issue that many in the party expect will figure prominently in the campaign for the assembly elections.
However, by the time the yagna in a south Bengaluru suburb ended Saturday evening, only about a hundred people had shown up, disappointing organisers who had expected hordes to throng the venue where holy texts were read for 24 hours to spread the message of the “importance of the cow in human life”.
But the cell’s spirits weren’t dampened, though – it continued the programme with the volume of the loudspeakers turned all the way up. And political observers expect much of the same from the BJP as political activity for the elections, likely in April, gather pace. Issues linked to the ‘cow’, ‘beef’ and ‘slaughter’ may not be too far away from the party’s campaign narrative, they said.
‘Multi-dimensional importance’ of the cow
For the record, ‘Gau Raksha Ashtayama Mahayagna’ organiser Siddharth Goenka told ThePrint that the ritual was aimed at creating awareness among people about the multi-dimensional importance of the cow, and the need to protect the cattle population to strengthen the rural economy.
“The resolution after this yagna is to ensure that all slaughterhouses in our ‘suvarna bhoomi Karnataka’ have to close with immediate effect,” he said.
MLA and former law minister Suresh Kumar said after attending the yagna for a short while: “We are committed to protecting cows. If our government comes to power, we will introduce an anti-cow slaughter bill. Banning cow slaughter will help protect the environment.”
The ruling Congress and the BJP have faced off over cow protection politics in the past.
In 2013, the Siddaramaiah-led congress government reversed the cow slaughter bill passed by the predecessor BJP government to its original form that was implemented in 1964. The BJP had made the cow slaughter bill more stringent by prohibiting the slaughter of cows, calves of both bull and cow and bullocks. The BJP said that slaughter would only be allowed if a competent authority granted permission to slaughter after the animal has attained the age of 15.
But the Congress government in one swift motion in 2013 amended this bill and reverted back to the 1964 act. The 1964 act restricted the slaughter of cows, calf and she-buffaloes but if bulls, bullocks and buffaloes were aged above 12 and were not fit enough to give milk or breed, they could be sent for slaughtering.
Ramachandra Adiga, a retired government servant, travelled from BTM Layout to Puttenahalli to attend the yagna. He felt that there was a need for such an event, or else how would people know the importance of cows? “Have the young children today seen a calf or a cow? Do they know there their milk comes from?” he asked.
Quizzed about the dismal turnout at the event, Adiga said it was unacceptable. “This should be a part of the election campaigning for the BJP; cow protection is also development. When we talk of organic food, cows help in that,” he said.
Development vs Polarisation
Targeting Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Dr G. Parameshwara, who belongs to the Dalit community, Suresh Kumar said: “G. Parameshwara and his party are not interested in protecting cows. But cow protection is one of the core principles of our party and culture.”
It’s not just a personal attack, though. Chief minister Siddaramaiah and his party have effectively consolidated AHINDA votes – Alpansankhyataru (minorities), Hindulidavaru (backward classes) and Dalitaru (Dalits). For a majority of AHINDA people, beef is part of the diet.
And there has been a build-up to Karnataka’s beef politics. From the murder of Prashanth Poojary, a flower-seller who was campaigning against illegal cow slaughter in Dakshina Kannada in October 2015 to the lynching of BJP worker Praveen Poojary by self-styled gau rakshaks for transporting cows in August 2016, there have been a spate of cow-related incidents. All three key political players in the state – the Congress, the BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular) – have weighed in on the issue.
So far, the Congress government has taken up cow vigilantism as a law and order issue, rather than one based on ideology. But Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and almost all his ministers, including home minister Ramalinga Reddy, have repeatedly reiterated that they are Hindus.
Siddaramaiah, who has in the past proclaimed himself an atheist, has even said he will eat beef if he wants to, and that no one can question his right to do so. He reiterated this when Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath visited Karnataka in January, as part of the BJP’s Parivartan Yatra, and said “if Siddaramaiah is a Hindu and speaks of Hindutva, he should ensure that cow slaughter is banned”.
Congress spokesperson Nasser Hussain said: “They (BJP) are trying to create a division. That is what they did in the second phase of the elections in Gujarat.”
He contended that the BJP was supporting beef-eating in Goa, Kerala and the Northeast, while opposing it elsewhere. “My mother, wherever she lives, is my mother. Why does she need to change in states like Goa, Kerala and the Northeast for the BJP?” he asked.
BJP spokesperson S. Prakash, however, contended that unnecessary hype was being generated over the beef issue, especially the yagna. “Do you think the yagna will bring us more votes?” he asked. “We cannot win the election by holding a yagna. We are fighting the election on development issues and the misgovernance of the Siddaramaiah government.”
Expert view
R.S. Deshpande, honorary visiting professor at the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), said the issue wasn’t something new.
“Since independence, there has been talk of cow and beef and cow slaughter. It was respectfully side-tracked then. Today, there is no politician worth his or her salt who wants to side-track this issue,” Deshpande said.
“If this continues, future generations, who look at us with respect and hope, will feel cheated that we fought on who eats what, who wears what.”
“Unfortunately, the Karnataka elections will be fought on such irrational issues – like somebody has been killed somewhere, someone has thrown cow meat at a Hindu temple, or a pig in a Muslim prayer hall. I don’t think it will be on development or misgovernance,” he added.