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The Meat of the Matter: How to Fight Casteism and Communalism https://www.theindiaforum.in/society/meat-matter-how-fight-casteism-and-communalism Anjor Bhaskar December 19, 2023
The celebration of non-vegetarianism is often a counter to the idea of supremacy and purity associated with vegetarianism. When in 2017, the union government effectively prohibited the sale of cattle for slaughter, it was met with resistance. Several states refused to implement the rules. ‘Beef festivals’ were organised to protest against the ban and the violence against Dalits and Muslims. The scholar Balamurali Natrajan notes how, these festivals were “framed popularly as an assertion of Dalit ‘cultural rights’ and identity, with beef represented as the cultural food of Dalits”. Unsurprisingly, the festivals have faced severe opposition.

Is species-ism (establishing the superiority of humans over other species) the only way to fight casteism and communalism?  We do know that animals who are raised for meat or dairy are kept in highly inhumane conditions. 

As Yamini Narayanan points out in her recent book Mother Cow, Mother India:Multi-species Politics of Dairying in India “the hyper-politicization of beef in cow protection discourses and practices obscures that the heavily state-subsidized dairy sector, India’s primary bovine industry, itself requires the slaughter of cows, buffaloes, sheep and other animals used for milk production. To acknowledge the role of milk in cow slaughter, however, places the Indian state in a fraught position.”

Restrictions on meat, including on beef, will impact the protein intake of the poor. Bans on sale and consumption are not coupled with measures to supply other sources of protein. This is no surprise, because prohibitions on meat does not come from a sense of animal welfare or animal protection but from a place of superiority and corresponding contempt for the marginalised.

Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati tells Karan Thapar in an interview that he wasn't invited for the consecration, but even if he had been invited, he would not have attended the event. https://thewire.in/video/watch-its-divided-not-united-india-shankaracharya-of-jyotish-peeth-on-ayodhya-ram-temple 

Swami Avimukteshwaranand made clear that he is not anti-Modi but accepted that the building of the Ram temple as well as the propaganda surrounding the Prana Pratishtha have politicised the temple. He said he completely agreed with comments made by the Shankaracharya of Puri and reported by The Hindu on January 14 where the Shankaracharya said: “Politicians have their limits and they have responsibility under the Constitution. There are rules and restrictions in the religious and spiritual domain and these rules should be followed. Interfering in every area by politicians is insanity…overstepping these rules for propagating one’s name is an act of rebellion against God.”

by Karan Thapar

16/01/2024

 On this 95th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it would be pertinent to recall what he said about a nonviolent campaign.

The "Six Steps for Nonviolent Social Change" is based on Dr. King’s nonviolent campaigns and teaching which emphasize love in action.

1. INFORMATION GATHERING: To understand and articulate an issue, problem, or injustice facing a person, community, or institution, you must do research. You must investigate and gather all vital information from all sides of the argument or issue to increase your understanding of the problem. You must become an expert on your opponent’s position.

2. EDUCATION: It is essential to inform others, including your opposition, about your issue. This minimizes misunderstandings and gains you support and sympathy. You can write articles for newspapers and magazines. You can hold seminars, and workshops and build coalitions on the issue. You can write statements for pastors, priests, and rabbis to include in their sermons.

3. PERSONAL COMMITMENT: Daily check and affirm your faith in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence. Eliminate hidden motives and prepare yourself to accept suffering, if necessary, in your work for justice.

4. NEGOTIATIONS: Using grace, humor, and intelligence, confront the other party with a list of injustices and a plan for addressing and resolving these injustices. Look for what is positive in every action and statement the opposition makes. Do not seek to humiliate the opponent, but call forth the good in the opponent. Look for ways in which the opponent can also win.

5. DIRECT ACTION: These are actions taken to get the opponent to work with you in resolving the injustices. Direct action imposes a “creative tension” into the conflict. There are over 250 different direct action tactics, including boycotts, marches, rallies, rent strikes, work slowdowns, letter-writing and petition campaigns, bank-ins, property occupancy, financial withdrawal, and political denial through the ballot. Direct action is most effective when it illustrates the injustice it seeks to correct.

6. RECONCILIATION: Nonviolence seeks friendship and understanding with the opponent. Nonviolence is directed against evil systems, forces, oppressive policies, and evil and unjust acts, not against persons. Reconciliation includes the opponent being able to “save face”. Through reasoned compromise, both sides resolve the injustice with a plan of action. Each act of reconciliation is one step closer to the “Beloved Community.” Not only are individuals empowered, but so is the entire community. With that comes a new struggle for justice and a new beginning. Post by  S. P. Udayakumaran Green Tamilnadu Party Nagercoil, Kanyakumari, January 15, 2024, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.