Cow Slaughter

A complete ban on cow slaughter has
been one of the more durable issues
taken up by Hindu interest groups, from
before India gained independence in
1947 all the way up to the present day.
Although debate on this issue has continuously emerged and faded, it remains
a reliable hot button for stirring Hindu
passions. This issue has predictably carried far more weight in northern India,
where there is a significant Muslim
minority with no religious objection to
slaughtering and eating beef. The first
widespread demand for such a ban
came during the Cow Protection
Movement in the 1930s. This movement
aggravated tense communal relations
between the Hindu and Muslim communities, resulting in significant bloodshed. Since independence it has been a
perennial demand by religious leaders
and ascetics, and it has been an issue in
the platform of Hindu political organizations such as the Jana Sangh, Shiv
Sena, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), and
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In the past,
such demands had little effect since the
proponents did not have the power to
implement them. As the BJP and the Shiv
Sena have gained control of state and
local governments, they have tried to
implement this policy. In late 1995 the
VHP initiated a national drive to ban cow
slaughter completely. Like many of the
VHP’s campaigns, this was undertaken
just before upcoming elections, in this
case at the national level. This campaign
was seen as an attempt to polarize the
Hindu electorate in an effort to influence the national election.