Editorial: It’s not about BEEF, It’s about DOMINANCE.

By: Iftikhar Islam

Air Force personnel's father killed by mob near Delhi over beef rumours

Recent incident in U.P. didn’t shake me at all as we all know the agendas of BJP and the right wings clearly. After Narendra Modi becoming the Prime Minister, the Right Wing has become more active than before. Last time we have seen the incident of Nagaland lynching for alleged rape, this time for alleged consumption of beef. No wonder we see these kinds of incidents in the future too. I say, O Muslims be ready to get butchered… it’s your time now. 

We see continuous hate inculcating in the minds of youth towards minorities – especially Muslims – that the youth are afraid to befriend these minorities. People search for the excuse to harass the minorities and put fear in their hearts. Right from an early age these ‘karyakartas’ are trained to hate the minorities and torture them whenever they gets an opportunity.

I say, this incident of lynching a MUSLIM is not because of eating beef, but to show the supremacy and inculcate fear in the hearts of the Muslims. “Beef” is just an excuse; their agenda is to show supremacy. I call them hypocrites. They can only do such things because they do not have guts to stand for the truth or face the truth. Truth is always bitter for those who hate it. If you are working to inculcate fear in the hearts of Muslims; remember, a true Muslim only fears Allah and no one else. 

If beef is the only issue, then why India is the largest export in Beef? According to the data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, India exported 2.4 million tonnes of beef and veal in FY2015, compared to 2 million tonnes by Brazil and 1.5 million by Australia. Data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) shows that most of India’s beef exports go to Asian countries. India’s beef exports have been growing at an average of nearly 14 per cent each year since 2011, and fetching India as much as $4.8 billion in 2014. Last year, India for the first time earned more from the export of buffalo meat than it did from Basmati rice.

There are approximately 3,600 slaughterhouses operating legally in India. However, there are estimated to be over 30,000 illegal slaughterhouses.

In an article published in The Hindu newspaper, by the title ‘Vegetarianism, tolerance and discrimination’ Tarunabh Khaitan, a researcher on anti-discrimination law, at the University of Oxford, being a vegetarian, shared the incident, “Madhavi Kapoor wanted to sell her apartment in a posh housing society in Pune to a Muslim family. She faced all sorts of obstacles and discouragement. She told a news-channel that some gentleman asked her “Toh phir aapko chalega lawn par bakri katne ko.” (“So slaughter of goats on the lawn will be okay with you?”).

How likely this (or any, for that matter) Muslim family is to slaughter goats on the lawn is questionable. This gentleman would probably have had no objection to selling the flat to meat-eating Hindus, but Farrah, my vegetarian Muslim friend, would certainly invite hostility. The incident shows how, on the pretext of vegetarianism, we are building exclusive intolerant ghettoes in our cities.”

It is okay when any Hindu eats beef, even if he is a Brahmin, but it is not tolerated to be even a vegetarian if you are a Muslim or a Christian. I am sure those who talk about beef ban themselves eat beef. This is the pathetic situation we are living in. If we want India to be really a peaceful place to live in, then we should lay down strict laws on equality and ban those organisations that instil hate and intolerance towards other faith. 

Hypocrisy of the Police:

When the family had lost its main member and the other was fighting for his life, the police was busy in collecting the samples of meat from the victim's home. It is not crime in U.P. to posses the beef, slaughtering is prohibited. There is no proof that the family has slaughtered cow for their festival. Even if the samples of the meat proves it to be a beef (which it is not), they have not committed any crime. By collecting the samples of the meat and sending it to forensic, the police has shown their hypocrisy. 

If the maintainers of law misuse it, then on whom do we trust?