Description

HOLY COW

INDIAN POLITICAL CHESSBOARD

The cow has taken communal colours. Under a government of the Hindu Right, beef is no more one of the items on the dining table. It is part of religious mobilization of Hindutva politics. The ‘holiness’ of the cow has been stained by human blood. The lynching of a Muslim by a frenzied mob at a village in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh in the name of ‘holy cow’ is a symptom of the revival of Hindu orthodoxy and return to medieval Brahminical values.

In this context, the book ‘Holy Cow: Indian Political Chessboard’ edited by writer and activist Prof. Ram Puniyani takes a close look at various issues surrounding the ‘cow controversy’. It puts together the true picture of the status of cow and its political use. 13 Eminent writers, each one an authority on his/her field, who have contributed to this work of preeminence, have thrown light on facts hitherto unknown to ordinary mortals.

Just one quote of Swami Vivekananda, regarded as a mentor and philosopher of Hindutva by the RSS, clears the cobwebs surrounding the whole issue. Speaking to a large gathering in USA, he had said: “You will be astonished if I tell you that, according to old ceremonials, he is not a good Hindu who does not eat beef. On certain occasions he must sacrifice a bull and eat it.”

As the cow makes a comeback in the religious and political discourse of the country, the book makes an interesting and thought- provoking reading.

CONTENTS

Will of Babur

Freedom of Food

Introduction

Section I

Overview: Cow Beef and Indian Political Scenario
1 Holy Cow: Faith and Contemporary Politics

Ram Vuniyani

2 Facts versus Myths Beef-Vegetarianism and Holy Cow. Vikas Adhyan Kendra

Section II

Cow-beef: From Dietary Practices to Religious Symbol

3 Cow and Elusive Hindu Identity
DN Jha

4 Did Hindus Never Eat Beef?
B.R Ambedkar

Section III

Dalit Muslims and Holy Cow

5 ‘Holy’ Cow And ‘Unholy’ Dalit
S. Anand

6 Hindu Rashtra, Cow and Muslims

Irfan Engineer

Section IV

Economic and Contemporary Aspects
7 Fodder for Thought

8 Holy Cow! Who Moved My Meat
Divya Rajagopal

9 The Dilemma of Cow Slaughter in India
Anshul Kumar Pandey

10 Storm Over Move to Ban Cow Killings
Praful Bidwai

11 Using the Cow

Javed Anand

12 The Sacred Shit – You Eat What I Eat

A.J. Philip