Why India is discussing cow?

There are many ways to do politics. So, why choose cows? This is the soul of Raisina Hill campaign for Lok Sabha Elections 2019.

If you count the number of cows in India, the rough estimate would be around 20 crore, all innocent creatures for sure.

Right from the time when Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi campaigned for cow protection to the present day politics, India has always been a great cow.

In recent times, selective people have been using their clout (in the garb of cow protection laws) to defend the gau mata, or ‘cow mother’.

To harm a cow or kill a cow — especially for food — is considered taboo by most Hindus. But then, do Hindus worship cows?

Shylashri Shankar, senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, described this situation in OPEN magazine, in following words:

“When a lynch mob kills a Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh over rumours that his family had slaughtered a cow and had beef in the freezer, when ‘cow protection’ vigilantes thrash four Dalit men in Gujarat for trying to skin a cow, when two Muslim women are beaten up and accused of carrying beef, the sub-text is clear.”

For some, cow politics has been rewarding too. Volunteers of the cow protection groups have frequently been reported inspecting trucks and even homes to detect cow slaughtering.

To quote London’s Financial Times which published an article on November 22, 2017, writing that “Laws backed by the ruling Hindu nationalists are wreaking havoc for farmers in the meat, milk and leather markets.”

One may argue that protection of cows has a religious angle, but then how can you allow politics to thrive over cows?

Are cows the recipe for politics? Why one should look at the cows for political mileage?

Well, artist-activist Sujatro Ghosh, doing a striking photo project, has the answers – India is better at protecting its cows than its women.