Where The Divisive Politics Of Holy Cow Has No Place

The protests spread across other campuses and many student activists, predominantly from the Left, faced disciplinary action for conducting beef festivals. A month after Akhlaq바카라�s lynching, the Delhi Police raided Kerala House at Janpath in Delhi to 바카라�confiscate바카라� beef, the most sought after dish in the canteen there, creating a political storm, with the United Democratic Front (UDF), the Congress-led ruling coalition, and the Opposition Left Democratic front (LDF) joining hands. Oommen Chandy, the then chief minister of Kerala, wrote to the Centre expressing his government바카라�s concern, even as MPs from both the LDF and the UDF staged protests at  Kerala House against the police action.

Two years later, in May 2017, Kerala witnessed a massive surge in beef festivals organised across the state by student and youth organisations of both the Congress and CPI (M), in response to the Centre바카라�s ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter. Demonstrations were held in the state and beef was cooked and served on the road, with people coming in large numbers to eat beef.

Were all of them registering a protest? It doesn바카라�t matter, because beef is just irresistible in this part of the country. 

Kerala has consistently stood united against any move to bring the 바카라�holy cow discourse바카라� into politics as a divisive tactic. If one has to pick single most sinificant factor that binds Keralites together irrespective of their political and religious affiliations, it is nothing other than their quintessential love for  바카라�beef and parotta바카라�, a combination dish popularly identified as the epitome of the Malayali idea of food. Even the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala doesn바카라�t dare demand a ban on cow slaughter or beef eating. Instead, they offer 바카라�quality beef바카라� if elected. N. Sriprakash, the BJP candidate in the 2017 by-election to the Malappuram Lok Sabha seat, which had fallen vacant due to the demise of E. Ahmad, an Indian Union Muslim League MP, promised 바카라�good beef바카라� to people if voted to power.

The cow is just another animal in this southern state.

The Malayali Appetite for Beef

The famed Malayali appetite for beef is not something that has developed in the recent past. According to historians, beef-eating existed here at least since the 3rd century, the Sangam period. There are several references in 바카라�Sangam literature바카라� indicating that there were no religious restrictions on the consumption of meat. Hanu G. Das, assistant professor of History in Union Christian College at Aluva in Ernakulam, who has researched the evolution of food culture in Kerala, observes that vegetarianism was brought by the Buddhist ideology. 바카라�It has nothing to do with the concept of purity, but it was all connected with the idea of ahimsa (non-violence),바카라� he says. Consuming meat, even cow meat, was not a sin for the Brahmins. Das explains that there are references in the Rig-Veda, Manusmriti and Taittiriya Upanishad establishing the fact that animal sacrifice was practised by the Brahmins and Vaishyas. The meat of such animals, including the cow, was consumed.

바카라�Brahmin community started practising vegetarianism as part of their battle with Buddhism. They discouraged animal sacrifice and meat eating to compete with Buddhism and capture the respect and prominence enjoyed by Buddhist religion in society,바카라� Das adds. The ideology preached by Sankaracharya played a decisive role in placing vegetarian food at the top of the hierarchical social order. Eventually, meat was demeaned as 바카라�impure바카라� to be consumed only by people lower in the caste hierarchy.

Kerala has a history of foreign trade and international relations that go back to the 3rd century, as the region had trade links with other civilisations including the Arabs and Greeks. Islam arrived in Kerala in the 7th century, along with the diverse cultures of the Arabs. The root of Christianity in Kerala is believed to be as old as the religion itself. St Thomas, one of the apostles of  Christ, is believed to be the founder of the religion in Kerala. Later came the Portuguese, the French, the Dutch and finally, the British. Kerala바카라�s affluent history of cultural exchange begins much before the arrival of Vasco da Gama in 1498.

However, the cow had attained the 바카라�holy바카라� status by the time the Portuguese arrived. P. Bhaskaran Unni, the author of 19th Century Kerala, informs us in his book that the King of Cochin entered into a pact with da Gama to not kill cows or buy cow meat. However, the majority of the population, the OBC, Dalit, Muslim and Christian communities, largely consumed all sorts of meat. 바카라�The cow was considered divine only by the upper caste, predominantly the Brahmins, who were a minority. The rest of the population continued to eat beef,바카라� Das tells Outlook.

In the 19th century, the Ezhava community, a backward caste, were allowed to raise cows, but they could not milk them. The right of milking cows rested with the upper caste Nairs. Any lower caste person who violated the code was subjected to severe punishment. The history of Kerala바카라�s resistance to the 바카라�holy cow politics바카라� also begins in the 19th century. In 1875, a group of Ezhavas in Cherthala, in present-day Alappuzha district, protested against the ban and broke the code by milking a cow. Though the members of the Nair community sent 바카라�goondas바카라�, the Ezhava youth outnumbered them.

Neither Divine Nor Religious

The 바카라�newl-found love바카라� for cow urine in the rest of the country does not attract the Keralites, either, because urine and cow dung have been used in Ayurvedic medicines since ancient times. There is no surprise then that Patanjali products could not create much sensation in Kerala as it did in other states. However, the quality of the products was found questionable. According to Jaya V. Dev, Deputy Drug Controller (Ayurveda), the department conducted raids when it received complaints about the quality of the Patanjali products. 바카라�I
understand that many of Patanjali outlets were shut down in the state. Their claim of curing Covid caused a lot of apprehension among the people and thus we intervened,바카라� Dev tells Outlook.

The medicinal use of cow urine and dung has nothing to do with right-wing politics in Kerala. People who follow Ayurveda, irrespective of their religion, consume such medicines. For example, 바카라�panchagavya바카라�, said to be made of five cow products, including milk, cow urine and dung, is prescribed for mental illness. There are Ayurveda hospitals and medical colleges run by the state government, which prescribe medicines with such cow products as ingredients. Speaking to Outlook, Dr Parvathi Devi, principal of the Government Ayurveda Research Institute for Mental Diseases at Kottakkal, says, 바카라�There are some medicines prepared in cow urine; there are a few others to which cow urine is added as an ingredient. Such medicines are used for certain physical and mental conditions as swelling, abdominal discomfort, depression, epilepsy and so on.바카라� Dr Devi is also a member of the State Mental Health Authority.

바카라�People do not really care for the ingredients of a medicine. There is nothing unusual about using cow products including cow urine in very little quantity in Ayurveda medicines. It has nothing to do with religion,바카라� says Dr M.M. Abdul Shukkoor, superintendent of the Government Ayurveda College at Tripunithura, Kochi.

Shelters Aplenty for the Holy Cow

The popular image of Kerala바카라�s love for beef has often been portrayed as disrespect to the 바카라�holy cow바카라�. This is far from the truth. The state has gaushalas (cow shelters) for protecting cows which are offered to temples by devotees. The five temple administration (devaswom) boards in Kerala run 10 such shelters across the state. The largest one is run by the Guruvayur Devaswom Board in Malappuram, the only Muslim-majority district in Kerala. 바카라�We have three gaushalas. The one at Malappuram is a 100-acre campus with around 300 cows,바카라� Vijayan, president of Guruvayur Devaswom, tells Outlook.

The Guruvayur and Travancore Devaswom boards have three cow shelters each and the Cochin Devaswom Board has two. Some temples also maintain shelters. However, there are allegations against Devaswom boards for poor maintenance of cow shelters.

A 3 Billion Dollar Industry

As the beef industry is mostly run in the unorganised sector, the Economics and Statistics Department of Kerala does not have accurate data on the volume meat consumption and its pattern in the state. However, the figures provided by the market players are mind-blowing. 바카라�Beef is a 3 billion dollar industry in Kerala,바카라� says Sanju Mohammed, promoter of Buffalo Mart, a livestock farm that runs its beef business in the southern states. 바카라�More than 90 percent of the business is run in the unorganised sector by local markets,바카라� Mohammed tells Outlook. The majority of the cattle required for the industry is brought from other states as Kerala does not have enough livestock to meet the requirement. Hence, beef is more expensive than chicken. 

Mohammed does not agree with the popular notion that connects beef eating with cow slaughter. 바카라�Kerala바카라�s favourite beef is not cow meat but buffalo meat,바카라� he says.

Whatever be the price, beef does not cease to be a favourite dish. 바카라�We start delivering beef dishes from morning. People of Malabar love to have beef with pathiri (thin bread made of rice powder) and parotta for breakfast,바카라� says Jayaraj, manager of Paragon Hotel in Kozhikode, one of the most popular non-vegetarian restaurants in Kerala. On average, his hotel serves 50바카라�60 kg beef on a daily basis.

The massive migration of Malayalis to the Gulf countries and Europe since the 1960s has brought drastic changes in the food culture of Kerala. Arab food, of which meat is an integral part, has become the new normal both in the urban and in the rural Kerala.

It바카라�s not politics but health reasons that can change the mindset of a Malayali when it comes to beef eating. The prevalence of non-communicable diseases, such as high-cholesterol and diabetes, is unusually high in the state. People of Kerala avoid beef only on a doctor바카라�s advice, not for the 바카라�holy cow politics바카라�.

(This appeared in the print edition as "Just Another Animal")