Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Loni in Uttar Pradesh, Nand Kishor Gurjar, has come up with a peculiar idea for Eid - he has asked Muslims to cut a goat-shaped cake and stop the practise of sacrificing goats. According to him, this is the way to make Eid "eco-friendly".
BJP MLA from Goshamahal in Telangana has also been protesting against Bakrid in Hyderabad.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, too, has reportedly demanded a ban on the sacrifice of goats on Bakrid.
Alright, let’s assume that Nand Kishor Gurjar, Raja Singh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and anyone else demanding a ban on Bakrid sacrifices are indeed the biggest supporters of goats and other animals.
But then, the question is: Why do they only remember animals during Bakrid?
Majority of Indians Eat Meat, Chicken or Fish
It's not as if Bakrid accounts for a disproportionately large portion of animal slaughter in India. The fact, that they won't acknowledge, is that vegetarians are in a minority in India.
According to the National Family Health Survey V (2019-21), 29.4 percent women and only 16.6 percent men said that they never consume fish, chicken, or meat. This would mean that around 20 percent Indians are what can be described as vegetarian.
The survey further reveals that 45.1 percent women and 57.3 percent men said they consume fish, chicken, or meat at least once a week.
There are some differences based on religion. Among Hindus, 53 percent of the men and a little over 40 percent women said they consume meat, fish or chicken at least once a week.
Among Muslims it is 79 percent and 70 percent among men and women respectively. Among Christians, 80 percent men and 78 percent women said they consume meat, fish or chicken every week,
Among Sikhs, 19.5 percent men and 7.9 percent women said they consume meat, fish or chicken at least once a week.
Hindu men are among the main demographic groups among whom intake of meat, fish and chicken is increasing at a significant pace.
The weekly consumption among Hindu men has increased from 48.9 percent in NFSH IV (2015-16) to 57.3 percent, a rise of 8.4 percentage points.
So, why do the goats, chickens, fish, prawns, eaten throughout the year not evoke the same sympathy from these 'eco-friendly' leaders?
Meat Businesses
Also, it is important to point out here that BJP and its allies have even secured donations from meat exporting companies.
The Allana Group, which is one of India's leading exporters of processed food particularly meat, donated Rs 5 crore worth electoral bonds to Shiv Sena and then donated Rs 2 crore worth bonds to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In 2015, The Hindu had reported that BJP leader from West UP Sangeet Som, founded one of India’s leading halal meat export companies called Al Dua. At that time, Som was at the forefront of the frenzied anti-beef protests and an accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots. According to reports, Som is alleged to have purchased land for a meat processing plant in Aligarh in 2005.
Though Som denied any links with meat companies, records did reveal that he was on the board of the company in the past.
It is strange that these instances escape the outrage of the BJP leaders calling for a ban on the Bakrid ritual sacrifice.
It's Not About Goats, Really
It’s clear that BJP leaders and Hindutva outfits demanding a ban on the sacrifice of goats, don’t have any special affection for animals. Their goal is something else – to establish their dominance on minorities.
First, they want to impose a ban on sacrifice during Bakrid. And even when sacrifices do take place, there have been cases of Hindutva outfits going into homes of Muslims and checking refrigerators for meat.
During Ramzan, Hindutva outfits had objected to Taraweeh prayers in parts of Gujarat.
During last Christmas, there were a number of attacks on Christians in different parts of the country.
Therefore, the priority isn't saving goats but attacking minorities.
On the other hand, there have been cases of people dancing in front of mosques during Hindu festivals like Ram Navmi, not to mention demands to shut meat shops during Navratra and Jain festivals as well, thereby imposing the dietary choices of one section on everyone else.
There are two processes at play - First, harass Muslims on matters related to the core practises of Islam such as prayer and sacrifice or Christians on Christmas and second, construct Hindu identity in opposition to Muslims.
This is also reflected in the demand by Hindutva outfits to ban Halal products, even though it is unconnected with any Hindu practises.
In contrast lies the case of Sikh religious outfits. As evident in the data cited earlier in the article, Sikhs have much higher percentage of vegetarians than Hindus. In fact, they are second only to Jains in vegetarianism as per the NFSH survey. Despite this, there is no imposition of dietary choices on other communities.
Sikhism also prohibits slaughter of animals in a slow manner and also slaughter as ritual, making the Halal, Kosher and Bali methods of slaughter unlawful for Sikhs. Despite this, there is no demand from Sikhs for banning Halal or any other method, even in Sikh-majority Punjab.
The point here is that it's fine for different dietary choices and religious injunctions to exist. The rules of one shouldn't ideally impact another.
But the imposition of the majority's viewpoint and the deliberate targeting of Muslims shows that it isn't about animal rights at all, it is clearly part of a majoritarian political project.