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VOLUME 8, ISSUE 11(4), NOVEMBER 2019

DETERRITORIALIZING MINORITIES: COW SLAUGHTER BAN AND MOB

LYNCHING IN INDIA

Dr. K.S.Krithika Ms.K.Subashini

Assistant Professor Research Scholar
Department of Visual Communication Hindustan College of Arts
Pondicherry University Community and Science
College Pondicherry Coimbatore

Abstract
Signs of ‘deterritorialization’ could be discerned from the Central
government’s notification, titled the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Rules, 2017,
stipulating that those who wish to sell cattle, may do so only after formally stating that
the animals are not “brought to the market for sale, for slaughter,” thus, effectively,
prohibiting the sale of cow and buffaloes for slaughter. This move is perceived to be an
indirect ban on consumption of beef as part of their diet, by a substantial segment of the
society. Pertinently, this ‘signifier’ appears to be ‘atmospherizing’ the politico-religious
ideology of ‘Hindutva’, that runs counter to the ‘secular’ fabric of the country. A series
of violent incidents that spiralled out as an offshoot of the imposition of the cattle-ban in
many states, signify the process of deterritorialization that seems to have been triggered
through an attempt to control what one should consume as food. The absence of
pluralism and polyvocality after the coming to power of the present ruling Government,
since 2014 in India, and cow slaughter-ban, in particular, is deliberated upon.
Introduction
After the World War II, with the emergence of new ideas, theories, material
practices and novel technologies facilitating the speed and intensity with which the
ideas and practices permeated the national imaginary, across national boundaries
promoting the sense of ‘the global’ undermining the deeply engrained notions of
community tied to a sovereign and demarcated territory containing relatively
homogenous populations (Appadurai, 2006; Albrow, 1997; Beck, 2005). The ideologies
dominating the world today are no longer exclusively articulations of the national
imaginary but reconfigured ideational systems that constitute early-stage translations of
the dawning global imaginary (Steger, 2009). In the wake of globalisation in the 1990s,
the world was expected to move towards the global imaginary surpassing the national
imaginary. Deterritorialization, considered a central feature of globalization, implies the
growing presence of social forms of contact and involvement which go beyond the
limits of a specific territory (Giddens 1990), taking us closer to the external generating
closeness in distance and a relative distancing from what is close (I Marti, 2006).
“Deterritorialization, whether of Hindus, Sikhs, Palestinians or Ukranians, is now at the
core of a variety of global fundamentalisms, including Islamic and Hindu
fundamentalism. …the problems of cultural reproduction for Hindus abroad has become
tied to the politics of Hindu fundamentalism at home”. (Appadurai and Breckenridge, as
cited in the book The Social Theory, continuity and confrontation, Garner, Hancock,
2014).

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Talking about fundamentalism in India, there are a lot of incidents happening

around, especially the ones that are affecting the day to day lives of people. Coercive
behaviours, with the power of politics and dominant social ideology, people in a
democratic country have been dictated to change their long-standing practices in an
undemocratic way, in the name of morality. Religionists and humans more generally
have the cognitive tendency of anthropomorphism, overgeneralization, essentialism …
binary thinking, hierarchical thinking, linear-causal thinking, and tendency to divide the
social or intellectual world into communities of good/right us and bad/wrong them. The
most significant cognitive tendency being confirmation bias, where we notice and
remember what confirms our established beliefs and to overlook or forget what
contradicts them. (De Cruz & De Smedt 2007, Smith, 2010). One such sites of
suppression that has been felt recently is the control over food culture. Food is an
important aspect of culture and every food culture we have now, has a deep rooted
history/reason for being the way it is. Our very existence is determined by ‘what we eat
and how we eat’.
The Central government’s notification in 2017, titled the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals Rules, stipulates that those who wish to sell cattle like bulls, cows, buffaloes
and camels, may do so only after formally stating that the animals are not “brought to
the market for slaughter”. This effectively, prohibits the sale of cow and buffaloes for
slaughter. This move is perceived to be an indirect ban on consumption of beef as part
of their diet by a substantial segment of the society. Pertinently, this ‘signifier’ appears
to be ‘atmospherizing’ the politico-religious ideology of ‘Hindutva’, that runs counter to
the ‘secular’ fabric of the country. A series of violent incidents that spiralled out as an
offshoot of the imposition of the cattle-ban in many states, signify the process of
deterritorialization that seems to have been triggered through an attempt to control what
one should consume as food. There is an attempt to deterritorialize the beef consuming
sections of the society, thus laying the foundation to an ultimate exclusion. The
arbitrariness with which the notification was issued, has given power to many
fundamentalists to take law into their own hands to enforce the ban, adding to the
deleterious impact of the rule. A section of the society appears to have been emboldened
by the legal backing given to what was, hitherto, a part of the non-justiciable Directive
Principles of State Policy. As a result, there have been mob-violence, cow-vigilantism
and murderous lynchings, all in the name of cow-protection. The line of flight, the
resistance of the system, reterritorialization, in places like Hyderabad and Kerala, is
assigned a negative value and condemned in the name of sacredness and prevention of
cruelty to animals.
Beginning with a detailed preface to the historical information on beef
consumption in Indian food culture, the study aims to throw light on communities
consuming beef as their main source of protein, then and now, and the circumstances
that led to the promotion of vegetarianism and ‘sacredness’ of the cow. It also examines
the right of every community to enjoy freedom of choice of food under the Constitution
of India, which may find negation in the implementation of beef-ban.
History of Beef eating, Beef ban and right to food
Hindu and sanskritic elements are emphasized as the contribution of India to the
world History. And, the presence and role of other religious and linguistic cultures, such

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as Buddhism, Jainism or even Islam, as it evolved in India, in the construction Indian

civilization is generally not recognized. (Thapar, Romila, 2004). The eating of beef has
always been in the civilization that emerged in this part of the world. And beef eating
was reserved for specific occasions, such as rituals or when welcoming a guest or a
person of high status. The economic value of the cow enhanced its veneration. This may
have contributed to the later attitude of regarding the cow as sacred and inviolable.
Eventually, it became a matter of status to refrain from eating beef and the prohibition
was strengthened by various religious sanctions (Thapar, Romila, 2004).
In 1955, Congress had banned cow slaughter in 24 states across the country. By
June 2017, 18 Indian states had banned the slaughter of cattle. “The main attempt to
sanctify cow in the name of Hindutva is to disenfranchise Muslims. Other than the beef-
eating Muslims and Christians, the lower caste Hindus are also the target of Hindutva’s
hate brigade. Attacks of this has been going on since Hindutva began in 1923. In
2002, five lower-caste Hindus were lynched in a north Indian town, for skinning a cow”.
(Doniger, wendy, 2017). According to the father of the Indian constitution, BR
Ambedkar, the principle of untouchability initially emerged as a practice to ban the
consumption of eating beef and the Brahmans found it convenient to say that those who
ate beef were untouchables, rendering Islam and Christianity alien and communal by
Hindu fundamentalists.
“The right to food”, according to the UN special rapporteur (2001), “is the right
to have regular, permanent and unobstructed access to quantitatively and qualitatively
adequate and sufficient food corresponding to the cultural traditions of the people to
which the consumer belongs, and which ensures a physical and mental, individual and
collective, fulfilling and dignified life free from anxiety”. Article 21 of the Indian
Constitution states that Right to life is not mere existence like an animal, but the right to
live with dignity. Adding to this, the preamble to the Indian constitution states that “we,
the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign
socialist, secular, democratic republic and to secure to all its citizens.
Currently 72 communities in Kerala prefer beef to the expensive mutton. Not all
of them come under the socio-cultural construct of ‘untouchables’. And, it is a myth that
Muslim rulers introduced beef eating in India. The number of Indians eating beef and
buffalo meat went up from 7.51 crore in 1999-2000 to 8.35 crore in 2011-12, according
to the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
Hypothesis
The Central government’s notification in 2017, titled the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals Rules has triggered lynching of the beef eating sections of the society.
Methodology
A triangulation study of the incidents of violence in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh
(UP), before and after the announcement of cow slaughter ban, has been attempted,
through the analysis of media reports published from time to time.
A quantitative analysis of the number of news reports on mob lynching and
violence in the most read English daily ‘Hindustan Times’ in UP, Lucknow edition and
Dainik Jagran is done.
News reports of the most read English daily ‘Hindustan Times’ in Haryana,
Chandigarh edition and Dainik Bhaskar were also surveyed for the study.

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The Key words used for the search in the Newspaper archives are Beef ban, cow
slaughter, cow slaughter ban, cow vigilante, Gau Rakshak, cattle thieves, cattle trader,
cattle smuggler.
The nature of the titles of the news stories related to cow protection and mob
lynching were also analysed.

Area of Focus
In 2015, Uttar Pradesh, a Muslim man Akhlaq was lynched, when suspected of
storing “beef” at his home. This state has the highest number of Muslims eating buffalo
meat, 1.73 crore, followed by West Bengal, 1.5 crore and Assam, 57 lakh. In terms of
percentage, the Muslim beef/buffalo eating population is highest in Meghalaya (94 per
cent) followed by Lakshadweep, 78 per cent and Sikkim, 72 per cent. U.P. and
Maharashtra have this figure around 47 per cent.
Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are among the few states that has witnessed more
number of mob lynching in the country. Therefore, the reported cases of mob lynching
in the name of cow, in these two states are chosen for the study.
Data Collection
Secondary Data
The secondary data forms the basic understanding for the hypothesis formulation
for this study. Between 2010 and December 2017, 3% of the total attacks related to cow
vigilantism happened between 2010 and 2014.
2010 to 2014 Jun 2014 to Dec 2017
Attack related to cow 3% 97%
vigilantism
Murders -Nil- 28
Courtesy: (IndiaSpend, a data journalism initiative)
In 24 attacks, as per media reports, the attackers were mobs or groups of people
belonging to Hindu groups, such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and local
Gau Rakshak Samitis. Between 2010 and 2017, Muslims were the target in 51% of the
violence.

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There were 28 murders in 63 incidents, of which 86% of the people murdered

were Muslims.
No. of incidents 19
Total no. of people killed 28
Muslims murdered 86%
Hindus murdered 14%

Cow Vigilante activities were reported from 19 Indian states. Uttar Pradesh and
Haryana lead the list. One incident was reported from the North-East (Assam).
Findings and Discussions
Arrests, violence and murders reported in Hindustan Times, Chandigarh edition
and Lucknow edition, UP.
Year Arrests Violence Murder News Items
2011 - 14 40 12 1 67
2014 – 17 92 92 9 127

2011 – 14: Murders: 1 2014 – 17: Murders: 9

Muslims – Nil- Muslims murdered - 7
Others - Nil- Others -2
Cow Vigilante - 1 Cow Vigilante - Nil

News Items include:

• Banning of Beef and pork festival in JNU

• Muslim Men arrested for killing Cow Volunteer
• A senior judge said the “cow should be declared a national animal and people who
slaughter cows should be sentenced to life in prison”.
• “Condemn the brutal mob-attack on the woman, who exposed illegal cow slaughter.
This violent attack today in Bengaluru is another proof law & order breakdown
under @cmofkarnataka Sh. @Siddaramaiah,” he tweeted.
• ‘Will break hands and legs of those who disrespect, kill cows’: BJP MLA
• Noose for cow killers, vows Chhattisgarh CM
• Stray cattle menace, ill maintained cow shelters and cattle on road leading to fatal
accidents.
• Dadri lynching accused dies in jail, villagers drape coffin in tricolour, refuse to
cremate body.

Conclusion

The number of news items and the violence related to Cow protection has
increased many folds in the period between 2014 and 2017. The media reports show a
clear difference in the kind of news that appeared on media, before and after attempts

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made by the ruling parties of those states, to protect cows. The open remarks instigating
violence in the name of cow, in communally sensitive areas has increased and could
also have led to the communal imbalance in those states. The Muslims and Dalits were
the most affected sections, in the cow vigilante acts. This situation definitely is an
attempt to deterritorialize the population that consumes beef and is involved in
businesses dealing with Cow.

Reference

 D.N.Jha, (2001), The myth of the Holy Cow, Matrix books, New Delhi.
 https://cdn.relaymedia.com/amp/www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/10/india-is-
hungrier-than-north-korea
 Appadurai, Arjun (2011), Disjuncture and difference on the global cultural
economy, retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org /453d/6531ee3e
8a31214 1d0b1 277c51 49c49708ab.pdf

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