RELIGION OF ANIMALS.BUSINESS, ECONOMY

AND POLITICS OF STAKE HOLDERS IN INDIA

Who are actually behind beef slaughter ban?

• Is it the smugglers operating in Bangladesh border? • Is it meat exporters of India ?• Is it religious fans ?• Is it corrupted politicians?

Modus of smuggling to Bangladesh

Smuggling to Bangladesh• India has a porous border of 2100 KMs with Bangladesh of

which 500 Kms are divided by rivers. • 25000 cows are smuggled to Bangladesh every day.• Cattle are brought by truck from states across eastern India

such as Bihar , Orissa and Jharkhand.• Sometimes country crafts are used to ferry them to the other

side of the river. In some cases the smugglers merely float the cattle in the water with courier who swims across with them. Their counterpart on the other side will pull the animals out of the water.

IF BEEF SLAUGHTER IS BANNED IN INDIA, SMUGGLERS OF BOTH COUNTRIES WILL GET MORE ANIMALS FOR LESSER COST

Meat Exporting Politics• India is the fifth largest meat producer in the world and second

biggest exporter.• India exports to 65 countries. Indian exports rose 24% in 2014. It

is a 5 billion dollar industry now.• As per the available data India exported 6.3 million tones of meat

in the year • For modernizing slaughter houses and export trade, Govt. of India

have reduced duties for beef export. Government also brought down import duties for machineries used for slaughtering

• Government offers a grant of Rs15 crore to set up new abattoirs

IF BEEF SLAUGHTER IS BANED IN INDIA GOVERNEMNT OF INDIA WILL GET MORE REVENUE FROM EXPORTS

Who are the major meat exporters of India?

• Al Kabeer Exports Pvt. Ltd (Owners: Mr. Satish and Mr. Atul Sabharwal, Chembur, Mumbai )

• Arabian Exports Pvt. Ltd ( Owner: Mr. Sunil Kapoor, Mumbai)

• M.K.R. Frozen Food Exports Pvt. Ltd (Owner: Madan Abott, New Delhi)

• P.M.L. Industries Pvt. Ltd ( A.S Bindra, Chandigarh)

IF BEEF SLAUGHTER IS BANNED IN INDIA EXPORTERS WILL GET MORE ANIMALS AT LESSER PRICE

Political Influence of Meat Exporters

An M.L.A from Uttar Pradesh was in the forefront of the frenzied anti-beef protests. He is one of the directors of a meat processing unit .

Al Dua had a net profit of Rs. 28.8 Crore on operating income of Rs. 724.3 Crore in 2012-13

Counter effect of beef ban

• Muslim expatriates working in foreign countries are shifting from Indian beef considering difficulties in verifying whether the meat is halal in spite of it’s Arabic name..

• Saudi Arabia lifted 15-year-old French beef ban (Saudi Arabia took 160,000 tonnes of foreign beef and veal last year. India being one of the biggest meat exporter to Saudi Arabia, the lifting of ban of French beef and doubts on halal authenticity of Indian meat will affect the Indian export earnings.)

Gangsters taking advantage of beef ban

• Chennai:- Five-member masked gang waylaid a lorry at Maraimalai Nagar and escaped with 5,000 and a mobile from the lorry driver on Monday night. Police have launched a hunt for them. The gang blocked the truck and stormed into the lorry cabin near Samiyar Gate in Maraimalai Nagar at 11pm. While three of them got into the cabin, the other two were maintaining surveillance outside the truck

Non vegetarians among Indian Brahmins

• Brahmins in the East (Assam, Bengal, Orissa) who are mostly Shaivites are non-vegetarians.

• Bengali Brahmins love fish. Saraswat Brahmins who live in costal areas of Karnataka eat fish.

• Maithil Brahmins from North Bihar are known for their love for fish.

• Konkani Brahmins consume non veg food. • Brahmins from Uttarakhand state do consume meat.

In many parts of state, goats are sacrificed in temples as offerings to God. The meat is then cooked and shared among the devotees as Prasad

Religious restrictions on Food

Forbidden drinks and foods in Islam

In the Qur'an (2:173, 5:3, 5:90-91, 6:145, 16:115), the following foods and drinks are strictly prohibited by God

• Flesh of an already-dead animal• Blood• Flesh of swine (pork)• Intoxicating drinks• Meat of an animal that has been sacrificed to idols• Meat of an animal that died from strangulation or blunt force• Meat from which wild animals have already eaten• Predatory animals that prey with fangs or tusks, such as the lion, lynx,

leopard, wolf, bear, cats, hyenas and gerbils and domesticated donkeys, simians (apes and monkeys etc) birds with talons like falcon, hawk, kite and crow.

Interpretation of Quran

• The herbivorous animals like the cow, goat and sheep have a flat set of teeth suited for herbivorous diet.

• The carnivorous animals like the lion or tiger, they all have a pointed set of teeth suited for a carnivorous diet.

• God has permitted humans to eat both vegetable and meat based diet (Humans have flat teeth as well as pointed teeth. It is suitable for both herbivorous and carnivorous foods.)

• The digestive system of herbivorous animals can digest only vegetables. The digestive system of carnivorous animals can digest only meat. But the digestive system of humans can digest both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.

What Christians can eat• In the New Testament, God changed the rules. Now Christians

can eat anything they want as long as they have prayed and asked God to sanctify the food .

• Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything’ (Genesis 9:3).

• (St. Peter went to a rooftop to pray and became hungry. He fell into a dream. The sky opened, and a sheet, filled with all kinds of animals, was lowered in front of him. A voice said, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." But St. Peter, thinking it was a test, protested, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." This happened three times. St. Peter was soon made to know the meaning of it.)

What Christians can and cannot eat as per old testament?

Permitted foods• Cud-chewing animals with split hooves( These specifically include the

cattle, sheep, goat, deer and gazelle families )• Salt water and freshwater fish with fins and scales• Birds such as chickens, turkeys and pheasants

Prohibited foods ( unclean animals)• Meat of animals such as camels, rabbits and pigs• “Creeping things" such as moles, mice and lizards • Four-footed animals with paws (cats, dogs, bears, lions, tigers, etc)• Birds and other flying creatures• Insects, with the exception of locusts, crickets and grasshoppers• ShellfishSeventh-day Adventists and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christians follows

the old testament and consider pork as a prohibited one.

The Hindu-CNN-IBN Survey• Survey revealed that only 69% of Indians are non- vegetarians.

Families in which all members eat vegetarian food is only 21%. • Women are more vegetarians than men and so are those above

the age of 55• As many as 45 % of Brahmins are non-vegetarians• 92% of Christians are also non-vegetarians• Jains, who constitute 0.37 % of India's population are strict

vegetarians. Apart from not eating meat, fish and eggs, Jains do not eat onions and garlic. Root vegetables like potatoes are also taboo because smaller insects are killed in their harvest and the vegetable itself will have millions of bacteria.

• Vegetarian families in coastal States:- Kerala (2%), Tamil Nadu (8%), Andhra Pradesh (4%), Orissa (8%),

West Bengal (3%).

Dress code and hair style of Kerala people in the last century

Brahmins:-Vegetarians

Thiyyas:- Non vegetarians. Cattle meat used

Christians:- Non vegetarians. All types of meat used

Muslims:- Non vegetarians. Halal meat used

Nairs. Partly vegetarians. Cattle meat not used

In the last century Hindu ladies except Brahmins were allowed to cover their breast. Each community had their own attire and hair style. Men usually had their ears bored and wore earrings. It was easy to distinguish whether some one violated the food code

Changes in Dress code and food code of Kerala

• Animal food was not objectionable to Hindus in the 19th century. Beef was barred for the Nairs and other upper castes. Alcoholic drinks as a rule were prohibited to upper caste Hindus. The scenario is vanished now. Beef and alcohol are consumed by a small chunk of upper caste community also.

• Now in Kerala 98% are non-vegetarians. • Low income communities prefer beef because of the

lower price.• Scheduled tribe people like ‘Nayadi’ in Kerala eat

rodents and similar creatures for survival

Status of cows in India

• All cows are respected in Hinduism as the earthly embodiment of the Kamadhenu

• Cow is revered as ‘Gomata’ and godly position is held.• The Mahabharata records that Kamadhenu-Surabhi

rose from the churning of the cosmic ocean by the gods and demons to acquire Amrita (elixir of life). She was ordered by the creator-god Brahma to give milk, and supply it and ghee ("clarified butter") for ritual fire-sacrifices.

Cow meat and bull meat as medicine and rejuvenator

• In therapeutic section of Charak Samhita (pages 86-87) the flesh of cow is prescribed as a medicine for various diseases. It is emphatically advised as a cure for irregular fever, consumption, and emaciation. The fat of the cow is recommended for debility and rheumatism.

• He who wishes a son should be born to him who would be a reputed scholar, frequenting the assemblies and speaking delightful words, would study all Vedas and attain a full term of life, should have rice cooked with meat of a vigorous bull or more advance in years, and he and his wife should eat it with clarified butter. Then they would be able to produce such a son. (Chapter VI –iv-18: The Brihadaranyka Upanishad translated by Swami Madhavananda and published by Advaita Ashram, Kolkatta)

Differing opinion on cow meat in Hindu religion• Apastamb Grihsutram (1/3/10) says, “The cow should be slaughtered on the arrival

of a guest, on the occasion of ‘Shraddha’ of ancestors and on the occasion of a marriage.”

• A scholar of scriptures Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane says, “Bajsancyi Samhita sanctifies beef-eating because of its purity”. (Dharmashastra Vichar Marathi, page 180)

• Swami Vivekanand said: “You will be surprised to know that according to ancient Hindu rites and rituals, a man cannot be a good Hindu who does not eat beef”. (The Complete Works of Swami Vivekanand, vol.3, p. 536).

• Mukandilal writes in his book ‘Cow Slaughter – Horns of a Dilemma’, page 18: “In ancient India, cow-slaughter was considered auspicious on the occasions of some ceremonies. Bride and groom used to sit on the hide of a red ox in front of the ‘Vedi’ (alter).”

CONTRA VIEWS:- Most of the Vedic texts in the last 1000 years are seen adulterated. Purana and Bhaagvat (not Bhagvad Geeta) is perhaps the most adulterated, which is beyond repair. Also, scholars are not sure that these people have really made such comments or not.

Athirathram Yaga

Videos available inhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnbqnMhbB44

The two Vedic Scholars primarily responsible for the performance were Brahmasree Muttathukattu Mammunnu Itti Ravi (undisputed master of the Jaiminiya Samaveda) and Brahmasree Cherumukku Vaidikan Vallabhan Somayajipad (occupies a central position in the ritual realm of the Rigveda and Yajurveda).

Dr. Fritz Staal of California University, who specialized in the study of Vedic ritual and mantras took initiative

to bring the glory of the ritual

Kerala’s Experience• In 1974 an Athirathram yaga was conducted at Panjaal near Thrissur. It has

been claimed as the world's oldest surviving ritual . The practice of this ritual was generally discontinued among Brahmins by the late Vedic period, during the rise of Jainism and Buddhism. Nevertheless it continued among a few Nambudiri Brahmins who were proficient in the Sanskrit Language and the Vedas.

• It involves Homam (offering to Agni) of certain parts of a sacrificial animal, usually fibrous fatty part of a cow or a lamb called as “Vapa”, and “Haviss”, organs like heart, tongue etc. After the homan the agnihothri has to eat the animal and remains

• Due to overwhelming opposition by animal protection groups and teasing by leftist groups an effigy was used to symbolize the goat sacrifice. In modern times, animal sacrifice is avoided.

Therefore, it is safe to assume that animals were sacrificed earlier for rituals like yaga.

Animal sacrifices

Animals sacrificed at Gadimai temple, Katmandu Male buffalo bali for Durga Puja

KNOWLEDGE GAP AMONG RELIGIONS.

Quranic knowledge of Muslims

• Majority have minimal knowledge in Salat ( ritual prayer) but often does not know the meaning.

• Minority have in-depth knowledge in Arabic language and Quranic verses• Miniscule have in depth knowledge in Quranic texts as well as other

religious texts• Vast majority depends on faith speeches and discourses for attaining

religious knowledge• Few looks WhatsApp and other internet based applications for

knowledge transfer. • Cinema, Radio, TV, Newspaper have no influence on knowledge

acquisition. • Imams and Mullas hold no influence over community.• Weekly gathering for Friday prayers form a community feeling based on

religion

Biblical knowledge of Christians• Priests who study religious texts impart the knowledge in Sunday

classes and other religious discourses.• Majority rely on vernacular translation and priest’s interpretation

of bible.• Majority attends religious discourses and mass services. Weekly

gathering on Sundays, processions , Coir and music play important role in community based feeling.

• Aramic language, the spoken language of Jesus Christ or Latin or Greek , the official languages of church are not known to majority

• Priests hold good influence over community. • WhatsApp and other internet based applications are widely used

for knowledge transfer

Vedic knowledge of Hindus

• Majority have no knowledge of Sanskrit and Vedic texts• Few rely on vernacular translation and interpretation• Cinemas, TV & Internet animations give mythical aspects

rather than knowledge of Vedic books. • Majority perform Puja but very few attends religious

discourses. • Miniscule have in depth knowledge in Sanskrit and Vedic

texts. • In-depth knowledge of other religious texts is poor• Sanyasins and temple poojaris hold no influence over

community.

Why less religious Knowledge among Hindus ?• Religious education moulds the thought of the individual in religious

line. Such things are not compulsory to the Hindus. This leads to knowledge gap

• Some groups started Geetha classes for children on Sundays . But the attendance is poor as the parents thinks that the classes are more or less politically motivated rather than religious .

• The Vedas are written in Classical Sanskrit, a complex form of Vedic. The style is very ancient that even people who are top authorities on Hinduism have trouble in understanding it.

• Vedas have a strong priestly bias, as the priestly class had the monopoly in the edition and transmission of these texts . Even in the webs some slokas are seen omitted and meanings of some slokas are given in a distorted way.

• Western scholars have translated certain Sanskrit texts but the meanings are true to the original is doubtable

Buffalo in Hindu mythologyBuffaloes are neither born holy nor have holiness thrust upon them.

In Indian mythology, evil is often represented by water buffalo, which also serve as a vehicle of Yama, the Hindu God death. Yama’s fortress is filled with buffalo.

In another version the water buffalo gave birth to demon Mahishasura and a goddess killed Mahishasura after waging war for ten thousand years.

Why should shift from beef to Carabeef (water buffalo meat)?

• Buffalo meat has a number of health benefits. It contains only half the fat and cholesterol, but also has twice the calcium and protein of beef.

• Buffalo meat has higher oleic acid content than beef (43.80% vs. 37.25%).

• Ash content in buffalo is significantly higher than that of beef. • Buffalo meat is ideal for the health conscious and people suffering with

a variety of health issues, such as: High cholesterol levels, heart disease, weight problems and diabetes. It's also great for growing children with it being higher in protein and calcium.

• Buffalo meat has favorable blood lipid profile, lower carotid atherosclerotic burden and decreased susceptibility to oxidative stress.

• Buffalo meat has higher levels of iron than all other meat types and significant levels of zinc

Why to shift from cow milk to buffalo milk?

• Cholesterol content of buffalo milk is 0.65 mg/g as compared to the corresponding value of 3.14 mg/g for cow milk

• Buffalo milk has about 11.42 per cent higher protein than cow milk.

• Buffalo metabolizes all the carotein into vitamin A, which is passed on to milk as such.

• Buffalo milk is also superior to cow milk in terms of important minerals, namely calcium, iron and phosphorus which are higher by 92 per cent, 37.7 per cent and 118 per cent respectively than those present in cow milk.

• Buffalo is an Asiatic animal and so not susceptible to many diseases like cows

Interesting facts

• In Haryana 80% milk are derived from buffalo• In Kerala above 95% milk are derived from cows or

reconstituted sachet milk• Monthly per capita quantity of consumption of milk

in Haryana is 13.126 liters in rural areas and 9.585 liters in urban areas and in Kerala is 2.822 liters in rural areas and 3.656 liters in urban areas.

• The overall prevalence rate of CHD ( Coronary Heart disease) is high in Kerala.

How buffaloes disappeared from Kerala ?

• Kerala State enacted the Livestock Improvement Act of 1961 for promoting hybrid cattle varieties.

• At that time most of the cows and buffaloes were non-descriptive low yielding breeds

• Castration of bulls made mandatory under the Act.• Government didn’t take initiative to bring good male breeders of

Murrah or Jamnapari but brought frozen semen instead• Artificial insemination was a failure in buffaloes because of the

difficulty to detect behavioral sign of heat by humans. • Now buffalo population is nearly wiped out from Kerala. What is

left is old buffaloes brought from other states for meat purpose and male buffalo kids brought from other states for fattening.

Why Kerala community prefer ‘people choice foods ?

• Kerala, after independence, is ruled by secular leaders who never insisted for any particular food to the people.

• Right wing parties had minimal role in Kerala’s politics.• Unlike in North India, the proportion of Brahmins(1.4%) in Kerala is not very

significant.• Tamil Aiyar Brahmin population in Kerala reduced drastically as many of

them migrated to north Indian States, Europe and USA for better fortune.• Kerala Nambudiri Brahmin population also trimmed down because of their

marriage traditions. ( Among Namboodiris only the eldest son was permitted to marry. The remaining males contracted Sambandhams - an alliance between a man and a woman- from the other matriarchal castes such as Nairs. The children resulting from such marriages were not considered as Nambudiris but considered as Nairs)

As long as these realities exist in Kerala, community will prefer ‘Choice food’ of their own.