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Beef Ban in India Reaches Into Cages of Lions and TigersBy NEHA THIRANI BAGRI
and NIDA NAJARMARCH 29, 2015
MUMBAI, India — Palash, the largest tiger at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in
Mumbai, still paces his cage for the hour leading up to dinner and still
pounces on his meal when his handlers lift the gate to his feeding room. But
lately what the 440-pound feline finds is not his usual 15 pounds of raw beef,
fresh from the slaughter.Instead, he and the park’s eight other Bengal tigers,
three lions, 14 leopards and three vultures are subsisting almost exclusively
on decidedly lighter fare: chicken.The change in diet has nothing to do with
health, and everything to do with India’s particular mix of politics and
religion.The Maharashtra state government, led by the country’s governing Hindu
nationalist party, recently banned the possession and sale of beef, imposing
religious dietary restrictions on Hindus and non-Hindus alike. Violations can
be punished by up to five years in prison.Continue reading the main storyIndian
State Bans Possession and Sale of BeefMARCH 3, 2015The law has been sought by
Hindu right-wingers, who helped bring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his
Bharatiya Janata Party to power last year. Their ability to get the ban passed
is seen by many as a sign of their growing power in the B.J.P.-led governments
in important states.PhotoWorkers at a slaughterhouse in Mumbai, India. Beef
traders are in their third week of a strike against the state beef ban.
CreditDanish Siddiqui/ReutersThe new rules caused grumbling from Mumbai’s
cosmopolitan, sometimes beef-eating elite — a group that includes some Hindus —
who were sore over the sudden disappearance of steaks in restaurants. Others
were unsettled by the rising culture wars between the Hindu right and those who
oppose its agenda, including minorities. In this case, that group includes the
state’s mostly Muslim cattle traders and meat retailers, who fear the ban will
damage their businesses.The traders are now weeks into a strike over the ban,
refusing to supply shops with even buffalo meat, which is still legal.And that
is where the animals at the national park come in.Until recently, the animals
at the park had feasted on a mixed diet of fresh beef, water buffalo and
chicken. But the ban pulled beef from the menu, and the strike — at least for
now — put fresh buffalo out of reach.The animals’ handlers, who seem baffled by
the attention in the Indian news media since the ban, give mixed reviews on the
switch to white meat.Babu Vishnukote, one of the feeders, says the animals are
devouring the chicken, which he sees as a good sign. But Shailesh Bhagwan
Deore, who oversees the care of animals kept in captivity at the park, fears
the leaner diet might eventually deplete the animals’ strength.“In fresh beef,
the animals get the taste of blood,” Mr. Deore said. “They enjoy that.”The
fight, of course, is not over what the park’s animals are eating; they will be
able to tear into freshly slaughtered buffalo meat as soon as the striking
traders begin supplying it again. Underlying the debate is unease among some
liberal Indians worried that the ban shows the growing power of the Hindu right
in the country.Neerja Chowdhury, a journalist and political analyst, said the
passage of the ban seemed to indicate a kind of quid pro quo between Mr. Modi
and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or R.S.S., a Hindu nationalist
organization that backed his recent attempts at land reform despite its
reservations.“He’s walking a tightrope because he himself is trying to come
across as somebody who is pursuing inclusive politics,” Ms. Chowdhury said.
“The general is taking one view, but the foot soldiers are taking a different
view.”The protection of cows is a volatile subject in India, where the animals
are revered by the majority-Hindu population.In a recent interview with The
Indian Express, Noorjehan Safia Niaz, an activist, railed against the law,
which she says unfairly affects poorer members of the country’s Christian,
Muslim and Dalit communities who are reliant on beef because it is generally
cheaper than chicken.“The decision to ban beef is a communal one targeted at
the marginalized Muslims and Dalits,” she said, adding that the decision was
tantamount to the government “entering our kitchens and asking us what to
eat.”“It is an extremely personal attack,” she said.Neha Thirani Bagri reported
from Mumbai, and Nida Najar from New Delhi.
