Everyone Gets A Cut

The cow has always been an integral part of the socio-economic, and more importantly, cultural milieu of average Hindu families, especially those with rural roots. In the south, cow worship is part of Diwali celebrations. A cowdung mixture is used almost daily to swab mud walls and floors before decorating them with traditional motifs or rangoli. Not only is this considered auspicious, it has been proven to be hygienic. For rural children who are fortunate enough, cow’s milk is among the few nutritious items of food available. Such is the reverence the cow commands from an average Hindu family, it is described as gau mata.

When urban families keep cows, it’s usually only for milking. This may be because of the socio-economic compulsions of city life. For them it is just an economic animal. We rarely find cowsheds in urban households. That makes the difference. Once milked, cows are set free to roam. Except at the time of milking—exploitation, rather—cows are treated as nobody’s property. Aged cows become burdensome. When aged parents struggle to find  respectable space, how do you expect cows to have a caring owner, that too when they are no longer yielding milk? Some vested interests try to lead these street cows to slaughterhouses. After all, economic exploitation is the essence of urban life.

Then comes another set of exploiters—gau rakshaks. Gaushalas have become a means of collecting donations or getting government funds in certain states. Some of them also earn from supplying crucial raw material for the production of a range of products, including some medicines. This leads to forward economic linkages. The short point is that everyone is just trying to earn something within the available space and his limited skills.

There is no point debating the moral or religious side of these people in urban society unless we are prepared to introspect about the system in totality. We need to examine many shortcomings in our developmental process and try to provide alternative means of living. If we cannot afford to open the Pandora’s box, we should just close our eyes with the attitude of ‘live and let live’.

Incidents like the one that took place in Una, Gujarat, should have no place in civilised society; the law should deal with it. In fact, BJP governments should be extra cautious, knowing that there are enemies: besides political opponents, there are many others who do not relish—rather, are intolerant of—the very idea of the BJP ruling, especially with Narendra Modi at the helm. Even the Western world may not like an Indian leader speaking on equal terms with them. Then, there are thousands of NGOs who are under threat of losing easy means of living because of the government’s vigilant attitude on foreign donations. Even an attempt to control corruption within the system generates enemies. No doubt, cleaning up the system is expected of an ideal government, but while doing so, it should also be extra careful so that these elements don’t play mischief.

(Dr Shettigar is professor of economics at the Birla Institute of Management Technology, Noida, and was a member of the prime minister’s economic advisory council in 1999-2004.)