The controversy over the meat ban order in Mumbai — on several days of ritual observances of the Jain community this month — and what seemed like copycat official instructions in Rajasthan and Haryana — as well as the order of the J&K high court on Thursday suddenly recalling a 150-year old state law to forthwith stop bovine slaughter and prevent the sale of beef in the state, show India in a poor light as a society and democratic political entity.
Regrettably, the Shiv Sena has made crude noises against the Jains. It underlines intolerance rather than the tolerance for which we are supposed to be known in line with our Constitution and the message of Mahatma Gandhi, which has spread worldwide. Gandhiji was a Hindu stalwart, a practitioner of sanatan dharma, but he did not endorse a ban on even cow slaughter, let alone other animals. He held the view that there should be no interference with people’s way of life.
India is known, and respected, worldwide as an extremely diverse arena of cultures and sub-cultures springing from a variety of languages, religions, castes and ethnic communities co-existing as a bewitching mosaic where the people have consciously chosen the democratic order in which individual expressions and choices are respected. It is striving in this direction that takes a hit when ridiculous points of squabble find favour with politicians who cite deference to religious and cultural mores of particular groups — and this varies from occasion to occasion, according to expediency and opportunistic need — in the hope of advancing their interests at the expense of the wider society. Constitutionally and politically, India is a democracy.
It aspires to this ideal in the social arena also, where there appear to be genuine difficulties sometimes on account of the prevalence of some ancient practices and customs that are now viewed as retrograde. But the effort in this direction receives a setback — more often than it should — on account of the appeal sought to be made by political or ideological elements. Consequently, we have become a country of bans. This means people must eat, dress, read, write, or harbour thoughts and ideas and a vision of art, according to what some — usually aggressive trouble-makers — may want.
If society doesn’t stand up to these threats, redemption will seem distant. It is a complex situation. All the states where meats of different kinds have been banned are BJP-run. For political reasons, however, regimes of the Congress and other parties have also endured stifling bans, although they may not have pushed these with zeal. The Bombay high court has decried the latest meat ban, but the J&K high court has dug up an old law to support it. Enlightened and high-level political figures need to offer guidance in such situations.
