http://fountainink.in/?p=484The Beef War Logs <http://fountainink.in/?p=484>
*India has been called a functioning anarchy and the land of a million mutinies, but the conflict that erupted last April at Hyderabad’s English and Foreign Languages University was unusual by any standard. We go behind the lines to get a handle on the many bones of contention in a complex issue.* By Suresh P Thomas * * On the last day of April 2011, Dalit students—members of the Dalit Adivasi Bahujan Minority Students’ Association (DABMSA) and Telangana Students’ Association (TSA) had planned to conduct a beef festival by cooking beef on the campus of the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU). They also claimed the support of all student unions apart from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). The day was ripe with the promise of a rebellion, for despite the overwhelming presence of a beef-eating community, beef was banned on the campus—beef, Hindutva, nationalism; the narrative has been told many times before. The ABVP’s opposition was the same, standard one: “O Hindus, come out lawfully for the support of pro-Hindu ABVP who is fighting against inclusion of ‘beef’ in the hostel food guide. As per Hindu Dharma, cow is considered as one of the most sacred deity (sic) and mother; but some Hindu traitors are trying too (sic) include ‘beef’ in hostel food and they even tried to celebrate ‘Beef Festival’ in this Hindu majority country.” ( http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/11911.html) (“There are Hindu students whose beliefs would be hurt by such an act. We are accountable to them and hence we are against the festival,” said a member of the ABVP body on campus. But that was the extent of its response. There has been no reply to requests for additional comments.) According to members of DABMSA and TSA, the ABVP activists barged into the campus kitchen, threw down the vessels in which the beef was cooked, and desecrated the food. The next day, beef supporters initiated a “food bandh” on campus, closing down the messes, canteens and stores and demanding inclusion of beef in the menu. They said that no food would be available on campus if their demands were not met. The issue would fizzle out eventually, failing in many ways to fulfil its immense potential of generating a path-breaking discourse—of a food culture that is trying to make its voice heard. But not before it made people debate whether the issue was just food or a much larger political problem—of caste, secularism and liberal practices. The principals were both agitated and articulate, though some of their arguments bordered on the esoteric, hinting at depths too great to plumb. We present here some responses to a questionnaire on the subject: Ravichandran Bhatran, EFLU student; Leader Dalit Students Union. Is this an assertion of identity? If yes, what are the contexts? Beef is a cultural food for Dalits. The historical process led beef to be untouched by the “mainstream”. Dalit emancipation lies in the cultural form of revolution. The saddest part is Dalit movements have been kept busy fighting for reservation and implementation of reservation. After Ambedkar no one has made a successful contribution for a cultural revolution, though Mayawati is doing a different level. Dr Ambedkar’s conversion movement has a national significance because people were converted into (sic) Buddhism. And Periyar movement, though people say it is a radical movement, never threatened Brahmins. Because they reject all religion. But Ambedkar rejected Hindusim and found Buddhism as an alternative. Here I would like to mention the *Pariayar* (playing *parai*), dandora movement. These were termed untouchable musical instruments. The movements are still fighting to remove the stigma. It did not see any opposition from the mainstream, because it is part of a mainstream musical instrument. However, the mainstream still did not recognise. Dalit movements also were not concentrating on promoting these instruments into mainstream, rather they asserted their music within their spear (sic). But you can see in many functions they call these people as a token of representation. The issue of beef will not stop with token representation, rather it would include Muslims along with Dalits. It is the fact, too, that in most of the anti-Muslim riots, Dalits, especially the scavenging community, ended up killing Muslims. It means Dalits must be always against the Muslims. One fact is the character of Valmiki, itself created against the Muslims. Also, Dalits have a history of engaging with leather work, which was a source of their livelihood, and beef was part of it. What is the response of the campus? Have there been ripples in HCU (Hyderabad Central University) as well? Students from the left too opposed, which showed their embedded Hindutva ideology. Muslim opposed (sic) is not about the Hindutva ideology, thinking pork will also be added in the menu, a campaign led by the Brahmins. (In) HCU at the beginning there were ripples. But now there is no problem. It does not mean they are providing in public. They don’t cook, they buy and eat, which was even present in the EFLU campus. But cooking in the mess is the problem. Does this have the potential to become a movement? If yes, did it? If it did not, what were the forces that stifled it? Dr Ambedkar said the embedded idea of Hinduism in everyone’s thought should be unlearnt. That is the ultimate way to eradicate the caste system. Cultural values of Hindus lie in the heart of beef. If we look (at) the history, the Brahmins have consciously removed beef from the Dalits. And also the language movement and everything was consciously made by the Brahmins. The police, administration, all were not allowing this movement to grow. Is this essentially a South v North issue? >From outside if you see the issue it is south vs north. But I see different, especially in the north during the 18th century. The Hindutva forces made Dalits learn a different history, where untouchability was introduced by the Muslims and left the practice of eating beef. Hence, there are Dalits who eat pork in the north. What does it mean when the ABVP resorts to that old line of argument: “Including beef in hostel menu will harm the sentiments of Hindu students”. (What do these ‘sentiments’ imply? How are they manipulated to form an extremist nationalist agenda? Or is it the other way around; is it a rabid nationalist discourse that actually provides the breeding ground for these kind of responses?) If that is the case, doesn’t our sentiment be harmed (sic) by saying ‘unholy’? In our campus majority are Muslims, Dalits, foreigners and Malayalis, Bengalis. How can we be a minority? It is not the sentiments that are hurt, but myth stories (sic). Is the liberal take of tagging pork with beef potentially dangerous? (The liberals say: If beef, why not pork?) When Dalits say we eat beef and include in the common mess, it means Dalits, Christians, Muslims, etc, eat beef, which is not a minority issue. It is a majority subjugated as minority. If pork has an audience let them serve, too. In the north-east people eat dogs and snakes. Why these animals do not appear in the discussion? When they take pork as a weapon, it means they are taking Muslims as a weapon. What is the response of the University? Blindly rejecting. The police was not questioning who ransacked the mess. Rather, they were concerned who cooked beef and why. Beef is not a banned food. Can this be pinned down to the emergence of Dalit community, in terms of sheer numbers alone, with the advent of BA courses? What is the general mood prevalent in the campus? Every revolution happens with sheer numbers. The pathetic story is, even so-called civil society has rejected these movements. In Delhi, Ramdev and Anna (Hazare) protesting, and civil society support, shows how much Hindutva ideology is planted in everyone’s mind. Certainly not because of BA (we can read anyway we want). General mood is to oppose beef. Malayalis, Bengalis, Muslims and certain Dalits; most of them eat beef, too, rejected the movement. In Kerala people eat beef and say they are radical. But they eat as a food. Dalits eat as cultural food. If we see the Onam festival we could say how much Hindu ideology is imprinted in Malayalis too. Also, Muslims, Christians, Dalits are majority in Kerala. Therefore they feel it is not a problem. However, I suspect Kerala recognises beef. Overall, I feel understanding the scavenging community will reveal Dalits at one level do subscribe to Hindutva ideology at a different level. The beef about beef became a public issue after the dust-up at HCU’s annual festival in 2006. It even prompted a paper by Sambaiah Gundimeda of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. It was published by Sage in its South Asia Research in 2009 as: *The Beef Stall Case in * *Sukoon Festival (Excerpts)** * *Equality of treatment for all citizens and their cultures in public places is one of the prominent declarations of the secular Constitution of India. The hegemony of Hindu culture in the public sphere, however, reflects a dichotomy between stated declarations and social reality. * *Placing Dalits at the bottom of the caste hierarchy, if not outside it, ‘mainstream’ Hindu culture not only marginalised but, importantly, rejected Dalits and their culture… * *Within the caste-based Hindu society, a broader food hierarchy sustains an order of superiority of food consumption… from vegetarianism, meat-eating (involving no beef) to beef-eating. * *Such ordering arises on account of two specific food taboos, one against the consumption of meat itself, and the other specifically against the consumption of beef… they are not simply taboos in the true meaning of the word, and not only about food. * *They are, indeed, markers of divisions employed to sustain caste and community identities and relations…* *The effects of the caste Hindu discourse on beef consumption, especially upon Dalits, are appalling… they are made vulnerable to humiliating treatment… Dalits have been lynched by caste Hindus, allegedly after killing a cow. * *Dalits are forced to consume beef stealthily, far from the gaze of the caste Hindu. This, however, does not mean Dalits accept their subordination. They are engaged in an intellectual critique of the food hierarchy as well as symbolic acts of consumption of beef in public…* *Of all the student organisations, the only one that opposed the stall (at HCU in 2006) is the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Nobody was really surprised to see the arguments used… the ‘Indian culture’ they were referring to was the culture of the Brahmins and other upper castes, a culture that includes… notions and ideas of purity – pollution, hierarchy and exclusion.* *The argument of the Parishad, that ‘beef-eating is against the sentiments of the majority students’ is absurd… the place for sentiment is the private sphere… * *The issue is neither about beef-eating in a public space nor about sentiments. It is simply about the sharing of public space, a space that belongs to none but is — and should remain — accessible to everyone… To put it in cultural terms, some individuals on account of their cultural affiliation are made eligible to access this public space, while some others are prevented… simply because their cultural habits are seen to be incompatible with those of others.* * * *From: http://sar.sagepub.com* Abhishek Chatterjee, MA student, EFLU* * Is this an assertion of identity? If yes, what are the contexts? Yes, it is an assertion of identity. The lower castes have been historically condemned to eating the flesh of dead animals. It is their food culture. They see the disruption of their beef festival by upper caste students as an act of violence on their food culture. They feel upper castes should no longer be allowed to dictate what a lower caste person eats. What is the response of the campus? Have there been ripples in HCU as well? The campus is divided. An accurate response is difficult to gauge because the mess closed down immediately after the incident, and most students left early for vacations as there was no food on campus. The aggrieved students had requested the private canteens to remain closed so that everybody could feel the discomfort of being deprived of food. Does this have the potential to become a movement? If yes, did it? If it did not, what were the forces that stifled it? It did have the potential, but it did not because of the timing of the incident—summer vacation. Is this essentially a South v North issue? It is mostly a south vs north issue. Is the liberal take of tagging port with beef potentially dangerous? The take of tagging pork with beef is illogical and juvenile, because the proponents of Hinduism have historically condemned the lower castes to eating beef. What is the response of the University? The university called the police when the incident occurred. They have not said much since. Police apparently chastised a professor for allowing students to cook beef and hurt religious sentiments. Can this be pinned down to the emergence of the Dalit community, in terms of sheer numbers alone, with the advent of BA courses? Yes, it could be. However, the recent coming of the ABVP into the political scene of EFLU has poisoned the erstwhile secular nature of the campus. It is because of the ABVP that the beef festival was interrupted. HCU has had a beef festival for many years now. What is the general mood in the campus? The general mood, as said earlier, is hard to gauge because of the summer vacation. Aparna Nandakumaran, MA student, EFLU* * Is this an assertion of identity? If yes, what are the contexts? I believe the festival was organised to commemorate the birth anniversaries of Ambedkar, Phule and Komaram Bhim, so, yes, in a sense, I guess it is. But rather than look at the festival merely as an assertion of some ‘essential’ community identity, I’d look at it as a challenge to the hegemonic cultural values which consider certain cultures dirty and inferior. Beef that way would be symbolic of just one aspect of that ‘minor’ culture. I am not sure how far the actual practice of eating or not eating beef is important here. Holding a beef festival would be a political stance to spell out the implications of either participating or opposing, and would thus have symbolic value. What is the response of the campus? Have there been ripples in HCU as well? Well, I was not on campus when the event actually happened. Two days later, when I reached EFLU, I found there wasn’t much activity, apart from the fact that the organisers had closed the messes and cafeterias in protest for a couple of days. I’m not very sure about the overall response, but the people I spoke to about it had either of the following reactions: (a) disgust at the way the ABVP trashed the event and (b) a feeling that the organisers had invited trouble by ‘unnecessarily’ provoking reactions. Does this have the potential to become a movement? If yes, did it? If it did not, what were the forces that stifled it? If you’re asking about the politicisation of beef, I guess that has been going on for some years now. When Ansari (M T Ansari, eminent post-colonial scholar) was studying at CIEFL (EFLU was formerly known as the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages), they organised something similar, and, of course, HCU has regular beef stalls during Sukoon, the annual university fest. If you’re asking about the success of this particular incident, I’m not sure. First of all, it happened during the vacation, and huge sections of the student community were either not around or writing exams, if I remember correctly. Then, I think there is a problem of consensus even within the organisations that came together to hold this festival. I remember asking one member of DABMSA, one of the organisations involved, and he said he had no idea what was happening. Is this essentially a South v North issue? I’m uncomfortable dubbing it “essentially” anything! Is the liberal take of tagging port with beef potentially dangerous? Well, I’m not sure what the liberal take is, but I have generally heard the question ‘but what about pork’? from people who want to oppose the beef festival but aren’t sure how exactly to do it without sounding blatantly casteist, or from people who think that there’s some kind of minority appeasement and political correctness that prevents us from discussing pork. However, I’m not sure whether the question of pork is at all relevant to the question of beef. The cow is supposed to be a holy animal of ‘all Hindus’, a claim which is highly problematic, and it is certain sections of the so-called Hindu community itself that are bringing forward the demand for beef and protesting the religious code that deems it illegitimate. If a similar demand comes from within some section of the Muslim community for pork, there will be scope for discussing it. (Maybe you could also check with Ansari regarding his experiences when he and others, as students, served both beef and pork in the CIEFL mess; I don’t know who else were involved.) What is the response of the University? If you mean the administration, I’m not sure. However, I’d like to tell you about something else connected to your question regarding the mess. The Basheer hostel (men’s hostel) mess was trashed during the event and closed down for a long time. The organisers of the beef festival closed down all messes and cafeterias for two days in protest. Later, the reopening of our mess (the Mahlaqa Bai Chanda hostel mess) was again delayed because of other reasons, the lack of mess secretaries or something. Anyway, after a while, the administration suddenly came up with an order that non veg would be completely banned in the messes (including eggs). The Dean of Hostels, who relayed the information to us at a meeting, used vague terms like “forces that are trying to harm the university” and “dark times” and other Lord of the Rings types lingo. He assured us that the ban was for our peace and comfort. We all protested, we vegetarians being the loudest to protest this arbitrary decision. We said none of us had any problem with non-veg in the mess, so how could the administration decided that non-veg was the problem? (I need to also mention that many people in the mess assured him that we would not serve beef or any kind of meat in the mess; there would only be chicken, fish and egg; several people also expressed the view that it was unfair that the entire student body was being ‘punished’ for the fault of ‘a few’ — I’m not sure if they meant the organisers or the ABVP, but I feel they meant the former.) We told him that we had not been consulted on this, and that we would continue with the status quo (which includes chicken, fish and egg) until our mess secretaries got to argue the case out with the committee that had passed this order. He didn’t agree, but later the mess committee members went and spoke to the Proctor or someone and got permission to carry on as before. Can this be pinned down to the emergence of Dalit community, in terms of sheer numbers alone, with the advent of BA courses? Again, I’m not sure because I don’t know how EFLU was, prior to being made a central university and before the BA courses started. But what’s the need to pin it down to just one cause? The presence of a strong ABVP on campus, or maybe the articulation of right-wing sentiments in other forms, could also be similarly significant. What is the general mood in the campus? There doesn’t seem to be much of a general mood. As far as I have seen, for most students, the issue has passed. R Srivatsan, Senior Fellow,* *Anveshi Research Centre for Women’s Studies Is this an assertion of identity? If yes, what are the contexts? I think beef is being put forward as a political issue — the question is, is India a vegetarian nation? The dominant answer that it is seems nowhere near the truth. Both Muslims and some Dalits have to hide their food culture as if it were a shameful affair. The beef festival both in HCU and EFLU were organised as a cultural politics rather than as an identity question. What is the response of the campus? Have there been ripples in HCU as well? The campus is divided. I have no idea whether the HCU also responded. Does this have the potential to become a movement? If yes, did it? If it did not, what were the forces that stifled it? I am not sure it has the potential to become a movement from EFLU or HCU, unless larger interest groups take it up as a question to be pushed — the Muslim and Dalit political parties, for instance. Is this essentially a South v North issue? The hooliganism is ABVP with a tinge of Bihar—apparently, the disrupters pissed in the beef vessels. Is the liberal take of tagging pork with beef potentially dangerous? Beef and pork have different powers attached to their sensitivity. Saying yes to beef goes against the Hindu mainstream. Saying no to pork is usually a business decision in restaurants who want to ensure Muslim clientele come to them. There is no fundamentalist *firman* in India saying pork should not be eaten. This is perhaps different in the Muslim ruled countries. Can this be pinned down to the emergence of Dalit community, in terms of sheer numbers alone, with the advent of BA courses? This is not simply the coming of many Dalit students — the move is part of a Dalit activism that preceded the inflow. What is the general mood in the campus? The general mood is caution and restraint among the Dalits, but the students all went away for their vacation so nothing much happened — I think. Veena Shatrugna, Researcher, National Institute of Nutrition Is this an assertion of identity? If yes, what are the contexts? I do not think it is only identity, there is a strong Dalit group, there is a Telangana movement happening… I am sure there were problems in the mess, and many other events. Eventually, all beef-eating castes joined in, with others supporting, no doubt. Identity is too narrow a term to describe what happened at EFLU. What is the response of the campus? Have there been ripples in HCU as well? HCU had a similar protest over three years ago when the VC forbade beef at one of the food festivals. The students asked me for My ‘Official Endorsement’. I actually gave them an official letter with a copy of a NIN publication where beef is listed as one of the foods with a high protein content, etc. The VC had no option except to permit beef. It was so-called ‘scientific’ evidence that worked, not the pleas. The whole experience was eerie. Does this have the potential to become a movement? If yes, did it? If it did not, what were the forces that stifled it? Beef can’t by itself provide the major fodder (sic) for the movement… it can certainly raise many questions and support any simmering dissent among the Dalits, I think. Is this essentially a South v North issue? No it was not that way… it was a coincidence that the upper caste, and Hindutva groups were from Bihar… you don’t expect Dalits from Bihar to come to EFLU. >From a purely nutrition point of view, what does beef stand for? Good food, also cheaper, with high quality protein. In fact, in the early 50s beef was prescribed for patients who had tuberculosis… even Brahmins were urged to eat it. After all, no vegetable protein is on par with animal protein. (Milk is an animal protein, remember). What does it politically mean when the ABVP resorts to that old line of argument: “Including beef in hostel menu will harm the sentiments of Hindu students”? ‘Hindu and nationalist’ is being defined as upper caste and vegetarian… Is the liberal take of tagging pork with beef potentially dangerous? That has not happened… I do not expect the Hindutva forces to insist on making pork in the hostel… they have perfected enough methods of humiliating Muslims. What is the general mood prevalent in the campus? Combative… or shall I say upbeat! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
