Seer on cow-protection mission gets a rude jolt in North East

 In the BJP’s “New India”, the cow is caught in many contradictions. While the country has seen some of the worst forms of violence in the name of cow protection since the BJP came to power in Delhi in 2014, with Muslims mostly being at the receiving end of cow vigilantes or gau rakshaks, the North East has turned out to be a totally different ball game for the saffron party.

After all, in the North East, the “gau” is not “mata” — a sacred status accorded to the bovine in Hinduism and zealously promoted by the BJP, its ideological fountainhead RSS, and its affiliates. In these tribal-dominated states with a largely Christian populace, the cow is just another animal, and beef is an intrinsic part of the local diet.

The right-wing groups were in for a rude shock when the respective administrations in the BJP-ruled Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland decided to send back a Hindu seer on a mission to ban cow slaughter from these states.

“An attack on tribal customs, traditions, food habits”

On Thursday (September 26), Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati from Uttarakhand’s Jyotish Peeth first went to Arunachal Pradesh’s Itanagar and then to Nagaland’s Dimapur. His visits were a part of his nationwide Gau Dhwaj Sthapana Bharat Yatra.

However, he had to leave right from the airports in both cities because locals found his visit “an attack on their indigenous customs, traditions and food habits”. The administration feared his stay might create a law-and-order problem and arranged his quick exit.

“At the core of our resentment is tribal identity. The yatra, by trying to ban cow slaughter, is hurting our identity. We (the tribals of Arunachal Pradesh) eat almost all kinds of animals. Beef is a delicacy for us. We are not against any religion or belief. Religious leaders should preach inside temples, mosques, churches, etc., and not in public places,” advocate and activist Ebo Mili from Arunachal Pradesh told The Federal.

Mechanisms of cow-protection laws

By March 2017, cow slaughter had been prohibited in 84 per cent of Indian territory, accounting for 99.38 per cent of the country’s population, according to an analysis of cow protection laws across the country by IndiaSpend.

Only the four states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland, and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep have no laws related to cow slaughter, according to the Central Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.

The RSS started pushing the Hindu religion aggressively among the indigenous people of the Northeastern states way back in the 1980s. In Arunachal Pradesh, the RSS has fairly succeeded in its mission by bringing a lot of indigenous people into the Hindu fold.

But in both states, it was the youth that spoke strongly against the Hindu seer’s visit.

Attempt to impose external religious beliefs and practices

At the Itanagar airport, the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU), a students’ body, protested when the religious leader arrived. Yomli Poyom, a spokesperson of the AAPSU, said, “We saw his visit as an interference with the food habits of the tribal people of the state.”

There are also apprehensions that a ban on cow slaughter would “pave the way for an open imposition of Hindu religion on the tribals”.

In Nagaland, the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) described the event as an outright assault on the cultural, religious, and social values of the Naga people. The students’ body accused the Hindu leader of attempting to impose external religious beliefs and practices on their homeland.

Nagaland is a predominantly Christian state, with around 88 per cent of the people (out of 1.97 million) following the religion. In Arunachal, out of 1.4 million people, 30 percent follow Christianity, while 29 per cent are Hindu, 26 per cent follow the Indigenous faith (Donyi-polo), and 11 per cent are Buddhist.

“We, tribals, are also citizens of this country”

The anger of the youth was palpable in a statement made by the All Arunachal Tribal Students’ Union (AATSU).

“Not only Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, or others, we, the tribal people, are also citizens of this country. Our belief and faith shall also not be hampered. Without cows, every ritual and custom of our tribal people will be hampered. Our union will not tolerate anything against our indigenous rights, which will hamper our rituals, beliefs, practices and faiths,” said AATSU.

“In tribal communities, the animal is used for numerous purposes. The cow and the mithun (bos frontalis, also called ‘gayal’, a semi-domesticated large bovine species), are sacrificed as a part of our rituals and customs. They are also given as dowry by the groom to the bride’s family. The number of cattle heads a person owns defines his wealth,” Bano Haralu, journalist and conservationist from Nagaland, said.

Haralu pointed out that to categorise and criticise anybody’s food habits is unsavoury, too. “The voices of protests are a natural reaction for casting aspersions on our food habits. It is unacceptable for anyone to be told about his/her food choices.”

North East BJP leaders silent

The leaders of the ruling BJP in Arunachal Pradesh mostly remained quiet about the incident. On September 23, the administration denied permission to the religious leader’s rally on the pretext that “he did not obtain a no-objection certificate and permission from the authorities”.

Biyuram Wahge, state president of the BJP, Arunachal Pradesh, claimed he was unaware of the seer’s visit. “I don’t know if he came and left,” said Wahge. The BJP state president also holds the Health and Family Welfare and Water Resources portfolios in the state Cabinet.

Political observers point out that BJP politicians from the North East cannot easily comment on issues that go against the party’s stand. It is a tricky situation for them, as they have to appease their bosses in Delhi and respect the sentiments of their community members at home.

Most often, they cannot find a balance. As the controversy around cow slaughter and beef-eating crops up on numerous occasions, only a few BJP leaders from the region have taken a stand against their party’s official position — which is to protect gau mata. Most, however, prefer not to comment.

Union minister Kiren Rijiju, who is from Arunachal Pradesh, had to retract his statement of “I eat beef” to “I don’t eat beef” in 2015. Rijiju is the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term.

Constitutional protection to indigenous people

In Nagaland, almost two weeks before the seer’s visit, the state Cabinet denied permission to the proposed yatra, as locals started speaking against it. Nagaland has a coalition government, led by the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP). The BJP is a major constituent of the alliance.

In a statement, the state government reiterated that Article 371A (1) of the Constitution protects the religious and social practices of the Nagas and the Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA). The government of Nagaland decided not to implement the Ban on Cow Slaughter Act 2019 based on 371A (1).

Monalisa Changkija, journalist and poet from Nagaland, said, “We have Article 371A (1), which gives us the freedom to practise our customs, traditions, and religion. Nobody has the right to tell us what to eat, dress, and do in Nagaland. For our people, the cow is an animal like any other. It is not our mother or a god. Beef is an integral part of our diet. We have the Constitutional right to enjoy our food.”

She added, “We don’t like any imposition. It is unacceptable for us that the BJP, the RSS, and the Sangh Parivar are trying to impose terms on us as to how we should conduct our lives. We have the right to say no to them.”

The administration in Meghalaya, where the seer’s yatra is scheduled to be held on October 2, prohibited it on Friday (September 27) to “avoid a breakdown of law and order”. Earlier, two ministers from the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) and civil society groups in Meghalaya expressed their opposition to the yatra. The BJP is an ally in the state government.

“Nothing to do with politics”

But, will the opposition to ban cow slaughter affect BJP’s prospects in the North East?

Advocate and activist Ebo Mili said it was unlikely to have any immediate negative impact in Arunachal Pradesh.

Medovi Rhi, president of Nagaland’s NSF, added that the opposition to the rally was not political. “It is about our heritage and practices.”

AAPSU spokesperson Poyom said they raised their voices to safeguard the age-old practices of the tribal communities. “It was not political at all.”

But the cow is India’s political mascot

No matter how much anyone denies “political involvement” in the latest cow-related controversy, recent history speaks otherwise. Political observers say the protection of the cow by the BJP is a political ploy for further otherization and marginalisation of the minority Muslim community (in some instances Dalits and Christians too).

While the exact number of cow-related killings is not known, NGO reports say an estimated 100 people have died since the Modi-led BJP government came to power in 2014. Most victims belong to the Muslim community.

The critics of the Modi government allege that cow vigilantes have the tactical support of the government. Opposition parties, too, mostly remained muted about the violence in the name of cow protection “to avoid hurting Hindu sentiments”, as they fear it might impact their electoral prospects.

BJP distances itself from seer

Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati started his tour from Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, on September 22. It is scheduled to end in Delhi on October 26.

The seer plans to install a Gau Dhwaj (a flag), symbolising cow protection, in various state capitals as a part of his travel plans. His main demands are to declare the cow as the mother of the nation and enact a central law to stop cow slaughter.

The BJP, however, has claimed that it has nothing to do with the seer’s pan-India tour. In fact, the seer is known to be a vocal critic of the Modi government. Shankaracharya had opposed the inauguration of the Ayodhya Ram temple by Prime Minister Modi in January because it was not yet complete.

He had said the BJP’s rush to inaugurate the temple suggested its desperation to win the 2024 general elections. Recently, Shankaracharya once again slammed Modi for failing to ban cow slaughter in the country and called him and the BJP “anti-Hindu”.

Seer’s yatra: More than meets the eye?

There is a likely political twist to the seer’s tour. After the Arunachal and Nagaland rallies were aborted, he went to Assam’s Guwahati. Reports say several Assam Congress leaders and workers attended a meeting presided by him. An Assam Congress leader confirmed to The Federal on condition of anonymity that his party leaders have met Shankaracharya.

Some political observers suggest that the seer’s rally has the backing of the Congress. The grand old party is trying to upset the narrative of the BJP that the saffron party is the sole custodian of the Hindus and their sentiments.

Assam Congress leader Mira Borthakur Goswami said it’s time to focus on development and scientific temper. “I am a Hindu too. I have nothing to say about the yatra and the debate it has generated across the North East. As a politician, my responsibility is to promote development, education, jobs and scientific temper,” she added.