Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita
says that “the humble sages , by virtue of true knowledge , see with equal
vision a learned gentle Brahman , a cow , an elephant , a dog and one who is
outcast”.
In a country where Hindus are in
majority , cow is treated as a sacred animal.The beef consumption is considered
as sacrilegious since past thousand years.But the exact figures and indexes
will put this thought upside down.
Wikipedia says India ranks 5th
in the world in beef production , 7th in domestic consumption and 1st
in exporting(for 2012).Exports of beef from
India are likely to hit close to 1.8 million tones in 2013 as per the forecast
by the USDA.The value of India’s exports has increased by 68.4% from 1.9
billion USD in 2010-11 to 3.2 billion in
2012-13 according to APEDA.
The big question arises in mind what has
caused a boom in this industry ??
When a cow is considered , the
usefulness is seen in the milk production which is possible when she has a
calf. Half of the calves are bulls who will never produce milk .The expense
of bulls are felt as a deficit to farmer
and are sold out to slaughterhouses .Even a female cow who does not give the
required quantities are mushroomed.
Are the eyes of Law closed?
Law governing the cattle
slaughter is a Directive Principle of state and vary from state to state.The
state legislatures have exclusive powers to legislate the prevention of
slaughter and prevention of cattle.Some states allow the slaughter with restrictions others completely ban on
it.Other states such as Kerala impose no restriction on cattle slaughter
.Haryana completely prohibits the cow slaughter and its progeny. The person
accused of this crime can be imprisoned to a maximum of 5years and a fine of
5000 or both.The crime is considered as cognizable and non-bailable.Despite
this cows are routinely shipped to states with lower or no requirement for
slaughter across State borders.
There are about 3000 legalized
slaughterhouses and about 36000 illegal slaughterhouses. The legalized slaughterhouses
have only the right to export but in reality the major export oriented
slaughterhouses are governed by the local players at stake of our water bodies.
At one side we see Government
imposing restrictions and executing laws on this but on other side it offers subsidies
for construction and upgradation of slaughterhouses under NABARD. APEDA provides 25-60% subsidy on transport meat ,
pre-cooling facilities , cold storage, brand publicity , quality control ,
packaging , branding etc.Not only this,there is an exemption from sales tax and
income tax on the export business.
The greed and the blatant
subsidies are enough to bolster beef industry.
Do we have an alternative to
this? Ofcourse yes .We just need to realize it.
The first principle which can be
implemented is OX EMPLOYMENT.The overall value of ox is greater when he is utilized
for work rather than when he is slaughtered and even when not productive in farming
work , its dung and urine can be used as fertilizers , biogas , pest repellant
etc.The cow dung is scientifically proved to possess antiseptic properties.
There are many organizations such
as ISCOWP which are working on this to vanguard the slaughter of cows.The very
own BJP candidate Shri Narendra Modi has also shown a concern on this and has coined
it as “PINK REVOLUTION” in India.In
August 2013, trucks carrying the beef on Delhi-Haryana road were burnt by a
furious mob as a protest on ferrying of these beef carrying trucks.
As for government if it wants to subsidize
something then why not the small farm family instead of beef industry.
Can we remain obtuse to this ?
Don’t we all hanker for a simpler cleaner and less violent Earth??
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