There has been a huge furore about the common Indian's right to eat the meat s/he wants. As usual, everyone who thinks s/he is someone has an opinion. A few have gone to express their beliefs & views physically. The elite intelligentsia with impeccable designer wardrobe and alien accent have pretty much concluded that there is no semblance of human rights left in this nation (no sir/ma'am, they can't even wait till the next election to somehow bring down a democratically elected popular government). A few of them have chosen to return the awards given by past government (yep, the same extraordinarily lethargic and incredibly comical establishment with a vocally challenged head whose strings were held tightly and made inoperable by a dynastic power center, that was kicked out hard by the humble Indian voter in 2014 and is desparate to find relevance with their dimple chinned fair knight in blunt armor who seems to have borrowed a gene or two from a hilarious former warmongering head of a so-called superpower) to the present government to express their dismay at the attempts to stop the common man's keen interest in consuming a very specific kind of meat.
And the poor Gomata (mother Cow, which incidentally is treated as a member of the family & also worshipped by Hindus who own/manage farmlands that typically have milch cows), without realizing all this ruckus is about her kind, is straying around the concrete jungles created by horrendous humans with one extra sense than her, searching hard for some green blades of grass to nonchallently chew, so she can be ready to be milked twice daily by the same utterly ungrateful humans. And once they are convinced that her productivity (of milk) doesn't meet their unrealistic expectations, they'll either butcher and sell her meat or safely ship her to other countries to be butchered and eaten there.
With many a religion preaching non-violence, not just in actions but also in food - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainishm, et al - originating from this once-great nation, it shouldn't be a surprise that Thiruvalluvar has dedicated a whole chapter (Chapter 26) for Meat Avoidance (புலால் மறுத்தல்)! Here's one of his Kurals that offers an amazing insight on this situation!
258 செயிரின் தலைப்பிரிந்த காட்சியார் உண்ணார்
உயிரின் தலைப்பிரிந்த ஊன்.
Those who think to comprehend (facts, truth), won't eat a (dead) body that has no Life left.
One may be a meat eater or not and it's a choice one has made. But all meat aren't equal (for most people, at least) and people are choosy about which meat they eat - predominantly guided by religious beliefs. And that's exactly the contention here, where the majority citizens of a nation believe the meat of a particular animal - Cow in this case, worshipped as God, treated as part of the family and understood as essential for the agrarian way of Life - should be avoided, from both killing & consumption.
Since the elite intelligentsia won't listen to any Indian wisdom, here's PETA's 10 Reasons To Avoid Eating Cow Meat.
Oh, PETA also kindly offers a list of Meat Replacements.
In case that doesn't convince them, here's what Sadhguru (founder of Isha Foundation, a global spiritual organization with millions of volunteers that also works extensively on rural education, health & upliftment) has told the media about avoiding Cow meat. https://youtu.be/7R7TEXKqdSI
Here's what one of the sacred scriptures of Hinduism Bhagawad Gita says about sacredness of cows.
Here's Buddhism's view on meat eating. Mahayana & Zen Buddhism avoid meat eating, while other sects remain ambiguous.
Here's Jainism's view on meat eating, including specific mention of avoiding Cow meat.
While the founders of Sikhism & Zorastrianism seemed to have propogated avoidance of meat, surprisingly Judaism & early Christianity too seems to have been more inclined towards avoiding meat!
It's a no-brainer that violence in the name of anything - including food preference - need to be condemned and the violators should be tried legally in a court of law. Perpetrators of hate, irrespective of their religious affiliation, should neither be supported nor encouraged - especially by the high & mighty.
While everyone is entitled to have a view & also express it vocally in a democracy, would the same vocal people - especially the elite intelligentsia - who vociferously support the right to eat meat of one's choice, do their bit to promote what's held as taboo by other religions? It's a known fact that another global religion too has singled out an animal whose meat the faithful are 'prohibited' from eating - not just in this country but anywhere on this planet! But no pseudo-secular flag waving, award returning, meat eating elite would even dare to speak about it openly. And that's the sad state of an eminent ancient culture that has been systematically eradicated by innumerable invasions and inevitably reduced to the mockery called secular democracy!
@PrakashSwamy
Note: This post is part of Swamy's blog series on the epic book of Tamil poetry Thirukkural, thought to be written over 2000 years ago by the poet ThiruValluvar, in an enchanting Tweet long couplet format, which is amazingly relevant even in the digital space of today!
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Be Joyful & Spread the Cheer :)
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