‘Holy Cow, Unholy Politics’: Cattle Owners Weigh In on Gau Raksha

Forty five-year-old Shablu, a dairy farmer in Varanasi, is scared to take his cattle out for grazing. He fears the gau rakshaks might spot him and beat him to death without listening to his side of the story.

His fears echo those of another dairy farmer in Bhopal who claims that the ‘gau rakshaks’ conveniently beat up any driver whose brakes are unable to meet the holy gau maata's timing on a busy road.

The alarming increase in the number of abandoned cows is a menace that people in four Indian states – Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana – have been witnessing. But the implications of beef ban and cow slaughter ban imposed by the BJP government have hit cattle owners in the worst possible way.

The Quint travelled to these four states to hear what the cattle owners of our country have to say.

The cost of maintaining a cow, for most farmers, falls in the range of Rs 150 to Rs 300 per day. This excludes major medical expenses that the cattle owner has to bear.

At the pinnacle of the cow’s milking period, the cattle owners are able to bear the cost by selling the milk. But with the old cows, maintenance becomes an issue.

However, for others like Ajay Parmar, a dairy owner from Jodhpur, Rajasthan, the advent of organic farming in India has eased the burden of old cows to a large extent.

While some farmers support the cow slaughter ban and choose faith and their relationship with their cattle over their economic constraints, there are others who find no option than to take care of the cows.

For farmers in UP, this restraint comes as a result of the fear of gau rakshaks and policemen, who they claim would kill them even if they are seen taking their cattle out to graze.

However, that wasn’t always the case. Legal cattle trade was a popular practice in these four states before the BJP government came to power. The cattle owners could exchange their old cows for new ones, in pashu melas, where farmers would buy these old cows for agricultural work.

With all this happening, the question arises: Has the ban made life any better for the Gau Mata? According to most cattle owners interviewed, the ban, no matter how fervently supported by many Hindus, has in reality failed to improve the cows’ situation.

The cows are now simply left abandoned on the streets, which forces them to venture into whatever fields are around and destroy farmers’ crops.

Others who decide to keep the cattle believe that the amount of affection they had for the animal decreases, and so does the amount and quality of the feed.

The government has set up gaushalas for the abandoned cows, but cattle owners believe that the money given for their care doesn’t reach where it should, and so instead of sending them there, abandon them instead.

Vijay Pawar, a dairy farmer from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh claims that the gaushalas are overpopulated with 50 cows and no food, which leads to the cows simply weakening and dying.

With the legal cattle trade and cow slaughter coming to a halt in these four states, an entire economy that depends on it has been destroyed.

For cattle owners in Rajasthan and Haryana, the pashu melas were a means not only to gain profit, but to put both the buyer and seller in a win-win situation.

According to the cattle owners, all of this boils down to the fact that the holy gau maata has been politicised just to suit the government’s cynical aims.

From insufficient funds and facilities in the gaushalas today to cow-related violence that has mushroomed in the nation, it is the Indian cow itself and its owners that are bearing the brunt of politicisation.

All that these already overburdened farmers want is some support. While some claim the pashu melas must be opened, others feel they should be given some money to raise the old cows or the government must buy their old cows, so they can get new ones.

They also want the gaushalas to be maintained and supervised so they can feel free to leave their cows there.

Either way, they want the cow politics to end so they can once more step out of their houses without fear.

No government support, no profit and no protection from violence gau raksha has made the Indian farmer’s situation worse.

Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam