The Russian court has directed the University of Kemerovo to read the text and come up with their findings. The suit filed by Tomsk Prosecutor Viktor Fedotov has also asked for the ban of religious group of International Society for Krishna Consciousness or ISKON.

“Bhagwat Gita promotes kin and kith violence, it promotes exploitation and ignorance, but still I will uphold the right of it being read,” said Sanal Edamaruku President of Indian Rationalist Association. “Banning any form of literature is against the freedom of expression, even Gita which legitimises the caste system should be allowed to be read”, feels Sanal.

“Gita is against the principles of Indian constitution, however banning is not the way to fight the reactionary, undemocratic message of Gita,” feels Dr Jayagopal, founder of the Atheist Society of India. He suspects that the Russian Orthodox Christian Church is behind this proposed ban.

There are close to 15 thousand followers of the ISKON cult in Russia, the ban has been opposed by the expatriate followers of ISKON. The Bhagwat Gita ban created a furore in Indian Parliament as parties like BJP demanded the Indian government to take up the issue with Russian leaders. Foreign Minister SM Krishna had even asked his Russian counterpart to intervene in the matter.

Raj Mitter founders of the Tarksheel Society of India, also condemned the ban on the grounds that it is against freedom of expression. “Ambedkar had said religious books are against constitution, however no books should be banned”, says Mitter. But he also thinks that if the people of Russia are offended by the text, than India should respect their sentiments.

But Dalit Marxist scholar ChittiBabu Padavala welcomed Russia’s decision. “Gita is such a religious texts, unlike Bible or Quran where god mandates inequalities by birth, if Mein Kamph, burkha and female circumcision is banned in Europe, why not Gita which is worse than any of them”, asks Padavala. “The ban is not about freedom of expression or religion; it is about punishing fascist propaganda. “Hindu groups in the west are misusing multicultural space to spread fascism, and it is shameful that atheists and rationalists are succumbing to the Hindutva propaganda”, Padavala says

However advocates of Bhagwat Gita rebut the charges that the text promotes violence and caste systems , they say the ban is proposed by people who have no knowledge of the book’s wisdom. “Every word of Gita spreads peace”, says Y Krishnamurthi of Gita Prachara Samiti. “Arjuna kills because as a Kshatriya it is his duty to kill”, he explains. “Everyone must follow the duties given to their respective caste, one cannot expect the teacher to go and till the land,” concludes Krishnamurti.

The Russian court on December 28^th will announce its decision on ban’s plea; meanwhile Indian foreign ministry is reportedly lobbying for preventing the ban in Russia.

The recent bill enacted by the MP government criminalises the consumption of beef. The Gau-Vansh Vadh Pratishedh (Sanshodhan) Vidheyak (Madhya Pradesh prohibition of slaughter of cow-progeny Bill) can prosecute any person found slaughtering a cow or even transporting the calf for the purpose of slaughter. Anyone found guilty of this act would face seven years of imprisonment and a minimum fine of Rs 5000. The Karnataka government in 2010 passed the ‘Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill’ and Gujarat this year passed the Animal Preservation (Amended) Act, both these bills criminalised cow slaughter. (The names of the bills benevolently say about banning the slaughter or protecting the cow, but in reality they ban the food habits and harass the entire community that eat the beef or involve in its production).

In the name of protecting ‘religious beliefs’, BJP many believe has encroached upon the fundamental rights of the people.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation UN (FAO) report titled Livestock Information, Sector Analysis and Policy Branch says the largest consumed meat in India is beef. The per capita consumption of beef in India is 26 lakh tonnes, as compared to 6 lakh tonnes of mutton and 14 lakh tonnes of pork. It is clearly the common choice of meat for the Indian population. In fact after meeting the local consumption, a United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) data says India exports 1.28 million tonnes of beef, making it the third largest exporter in the world.

“The constitution of India gives us the right to eat any kind of food; BJP is taking away people’s right to food through this law. They are not only targeting Muslims with this bill, but also the large tribal population of the state”, says Dr Jilukara Srinivas Postdoctoral fellow, University of Hyderabad.

For example the tribal population of Madhya Pradesh is 13 million, and beef always has been an important part of the tribal food culture.  In Spite of the large section of the population consuming this meat, the bill received a Presidential nod.

Cow as the holy animal of Hindus has always been a disputed belief.  D N Jha in his book ‘The Myth of the Holy Cow’ explains this misrepresentation of cow’s holiness. Rigveda has references of cow being one of the most commonly consumed food item among the Brahmins. The practice of cow slaughter was an integral part of the Aryan cult. Jha writes cow and bull meat was one of the favourite delicacies of the Hindu deity Indra.

“Most Indians eat beef, and Indians mostly eat beef. The principled non eaters of beef are a minority in India”, says Chittibabu Padavala a Dalit Marxist scholar.

The BJP has tried to justify such bills in the name of animal rights, but if it indeed wants to protect the rights of the animal, why protect only cow. “If animal rights is the argument, why not take care of them at our respective homes, and why not also protect snakes, goats and other animals that need help”, says Ram Puniyani, Member of All India Secular Forum. “This law is inhuman, and denies the right of food to a large section of beef eating population,” says Puniyani. “This is yet another tactic to harass the Muslim and tribal population in MP, and saffronise the state”.

But what is appalling is secularists have remained silent over this issue. Padvala thinks that the lack of outrage over this ban is also because fight against Hindutva is led by individuals who are less likely to eat beef at their homes. He says the upper caste leadership never took the long standing suggestion by dalit activist Kancha Illaiah for organising beef eating by dalits and Muslims to combate Hindutva and assert their own distinctive culture.

“It is difficult to say which is more shocking, the barbaric law or the lack of outrage at it,” wonders Padavala.

Filed under: politics ]]> http://diviaa.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/holy-cow-who-moved-my-meat/feed/ 0 diviaa http://diviaa.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/i-stand-by-arundhati-roys-statements/ http://diviaa.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/i-stand-by-arundhati-roys-statements/#comments Tue, 26 Oct 2010 11:35:10 +0000 Divya http://diviaa.wordpress.com/?p=72 ]]>

I write therefore I exist

‘Patriotism is the virtue of the Vicious’ said my dear writer Oscar Wilde; it is for those who are brutal and inhuman, and I am glad to say that I am not vicious. But Indian government and the likes of journalist Kanchan Gupta surely are. Arundhati’s ‘hate speech’ outraged the popular press and the urban elites. Arundhati has said that Kashmir was never an integral part of India which is a historically recorded fact. In fact Arundhati’s statements have come as a blessing in disguise for the Indian Government. She is a good distraction from the real issues- of the stone pelters and Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The issues that the Indian government is embarrassed to talk about, and incompetent in dealing with. 

 It is strange that the why didn’t these people who hold Kashmir so dear to them were never outraged when kashmiri women were raped by the Indian army, when young boys got picked up from their homes under the pretext of being terrorists, never to return home. What happened to all the ‘patriotic’ voices? No one came to rescue them; no one thought what happened to them was ‘unpatriotic’. And Arundhati’s statements become such a matter of contention.

 Arundhati Roy is just a mirror to our bankrupt moral holdings, to our collective failure in addressing the Kashmir issue. We claim our right to the tall mountains and the beautiful valley, but don’t want to own up the ugly truth that we failed to infuse confidence among Kashmiris that they belong to this country.

The stone pelters were no militants who had ak-47s or grenades. They were people like you and me, who would go about with their every day chores. The only difference was that they never experienced the democracy that we are so frantically championing about.  For them democracy was forced upon, threatned with dire consequenses if they refused to be part of. They were never part of the democracy that Kanchan Gupta says one billion Hindustanis are proud to be part of.  

PS- Just a small context, the blog post by pioneer Journalist Kanchan Gupta provoked me to write this post  http://bit.ly/aTp7ZB

How can a court decide where a religious or mythical character was born? The ‘evidence’ was the ASI report which said they found large ruins of temples. The validity of the ASI report is questionable, for assuming that they indeed found “large ruins of temple” how does it justify that those ruins indeed belonged to the Hindu god Ram. And how does it prove it was demolished to build a Mosque. There could well have been an earthquake, flood or an alien invasion for that matter. Or it could have belonged to any other deity of any other religion.

By merely concluding that Ram belonged in the demolished space has made the judges look like a group of priests rather than upholders of justice. Tomorrow someone might demand that woman should be set on fire to test her chastity just as Sita was made to do, will we oblige to that too. Or for that matter some other party will go on rampage demanding a religious place, in an already existing place of worship, will that be permitted too. This case sets precedence for such outrageous acts. As noted journalist Siddharth Vardharajan says, “Indians as a nation have faith in many things, but in no way faith can become an arbitrator of what is right or wrong”.

It is surprising that the High Court never in the course of hearing, ever questioned the authenticity of the report. The ASI survey was carried during the BJP lead NDA regime, the same party that razed the mosque with the pretext of building a Ram Mandir, and for obvious reasons the report also concluded that they found ruins of large temple.

For the Hindu fundamentalists this ruling gives legitimacy to go on with their jingoistic agenda. A go ahead to the likes of VHP and BJP, they can go on rampage and demolish as many structures as they want, later only to be followed by a court verdict, which would deliver a judgment decades later righting the wrong. A much needed lifeline just when the party was moving away from its hardcore fundamentalist religious stand. But now the gates have been opened for the open breeding of Hindu fundamentalism.

So what happens to the violence that followed post the demolition, what happens to culprits who created this mess? Some one told there is a criminal proceeding against them, the outcome is waited, and will be awaited endlessly.