The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has embarked on a cow protection drive in the State.
It has counselled caution against the colonial overhang in food habits, mainly beef consumption, and reiterated the need for a constitutional amendment to ban cow slaughter.
Scriptures misread
A handbook brought out in Malayalam by the Gosewa Vibhag (Cow Protection Arm) of the RSS says the habit of beef consumption was inculcated by the British.
The British, the book alleges, had misinterpreted the traditional scriptures to establish that Indians were in the habit of eating beef.
“The British East India Company, through an education system moulded by them, taught us that Aryans ate beef. Before 1760, there was not even one slaughterhouse in the country and cow slaughter, prostitution and drinking were deemed as major sins. It was Bengal Governor Robert Clive who set up the first abattoir in Calcutta,” the book says.
Cow rearing and Fidel
Fidel Castro had prescribed an agrarian system-based cow rearing as a regimen to the penury that gripped Cuba.
The Cuban leader even framed a legislation against cow slaughter with stringent penal provisions.
The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) activists had collected funds from Kerala for supporting Cuba, but now the country has become self-reliant through the agrarian system practised by Fidel, the book claims.
It reminds that the surge in beef festivals have only helped the pharmaceutical companies.
Such firms have only earned a fortune through the health problems created by such festivals.
Farming expense
Citing the spurt in farming expense from 7% to 72% over the past 16 years, the book hits out at the debilitating impact of Green Revolution too.
The book also reminds that more than one farmer is committing suicide in the country due to the growing debt burden.
But it does not deal with the economic policies and other issues that drive them to the brink of a crisis.
Mughal link
To further substantiate its views, the book says that Mughal emperors were votaries of cow slaughter and Akbar had banned beef consumption in honour of the sentiments of the Hindus.
The book also lays accent on cow worship and other rituals too.
