Book Excerpt: 'The State Practices And Politics Around the Sacred Cow'

"Cow vigilantism — an activity that till date survived on the margins of law — was now appropriated by the state."

(Extracted with permission from 'Practices of the State: Muslims, Law and Violence in India by Tanweer Fazal, published by Three Essays Collective. Paragraph breaks have been added for readers’ convenience).

In an incredibly dauntless act of investigative reporting, one of the leading media houses in India, picked up the roadside vendors of a Muslim majority locality of Haryana as a subject of its probe.

In this undercover operation of rare grit, the reporter adopted a Muslim name for a reality check—whether cow meat was still the ingredient used in the ‘biryani’ sold by them or was it, buffalo meat as it was commonly presented.

On his constant prodding and much to his glee, the vendors revealed that the customer preference for cow-meat was unambiguous, and they simply catered to their taste.