Cow protection movement: Difference between revisions
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== Arya Samaj == |
== Arya Samaj == |
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Arya Samaj proponded the idea that Hindus should cleanse their religion and return back to purer form of Hinduism which existed during [[Veda|Vedic]] times. While, it rejected [[idol worship]], [[polytheism]], [[child marriage]], [[widow]][[ celibacy]], foreign travel, [[caste]] system and spiritual superiority of Brahman priest, it accepted the practice of cow worship. |
Arya Samaj proponded the idea that Hindus should cleanse their religion and return back to purer form of Hinduism which existed during [[Veda|Vedic]] times. While, it rejected [[idol worship]], [[polytheism]], [[child marriage]], [[widow]][[ celibacy]], foreign travel, [[caste]] system and spiritual superiority of Brahman priest, it accepted the practice of cow worship.<ref>From Plassey to Partition, a History of modern India, Śekhara Bandyopādhyāẏa, p240, ISBN 8125025960</ref> |
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In a treatsie called ''Gokarunanidhi'', (Ocean of mercy to the cow), published by Dayananda Saraswathi in 1881<ref>Hindu-Muslim relations in British India, g.R.Thursby, p77</ref> he strongly opposed cow-slaughter as an anti-Hindu act. Dayananda and his followers travelled all across India giving lectures and founding societies. The advent of train, bus and printing presses aided in a much wider dissemination of their messages. |
In a treatsie called ''Gokarunanidhi'', (Ocean of mercy to the cow), published by Dayananda Saraswathi in 1881<ref>Hindu-Muslim relations in British India, g.R.Thursby, p77</ref> he strongly opposed cow-slaughter as an anti-Hindu act. Dayananda and his followers travelled all across India giving lectures and founding societies. The advent of train, bus and printing presses aided in a much wider dissemination of their messages. |
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Revision as of 16:33, 7 October 2008
Cow protection movement was one of the early movements in Hindu nationalism which demanded end of cow slaughter in British India. The movement gained momentum with the support from Arya Samaj and its founding father Swami Dayananda Saraswati. Swami Dayananda and his followers travelled across India which led to the establishment of cow protection societies in various regions of India starting at 1882. In 1893, during the peak of this movement and immediately after an order from a British magistrate who asked muslims who wanted to sacrifice to register, violence broke out in Mau in Azamgarh district which in the following months culminated in riots across Northern India spreading its tentacles all the way to Bombay and Rangoon.
Holy Cow
Cow is a sacred animal in Hindu religion. Dairy products are extensively used in Hindu culture and are one of the most essential nutritional components of Hindu meals. Panchagavya, a mixture of five products of cow, milk, curd, butter, urine and dung is consumed in Brahmanical rituals. The mixture is also smeared on ulcers as a healing product. Goddess Lakshmi is thought to reside in cow dung.[1]
Veneration of cow increased during medieval times when rate of cow slaughter increased phenomenally. It is also believed that muslim sacrifice of cow during Bakr-Id also led to increase in cow veneration among hindus.
Arya Samaj
Arya Samaj proponded the idea that Hindus should cleanse their religion and return back to purer form of Hinduism which existed during Vedic times. While, it rejected idol worship, polytheism, child marriage, widowcelibacy, foreign travel, caste system and spiritual superiority of Brahman priest, it accepted the practice of cow worship.[2]
In a treatsie called Gokarunanidhi, (Ocean of mercy to the cow), published by Dayananda Saraswathi in 1881[3] he strongly opposed cow-slaughter as an anti-Hindu act. Dayananda and his followers travelled all across India giving lectures and founding societies. The advent of train, bus and printing presses aided in a much wider dissemination of their messages.
It is also argued that the British policy during that time strengthened the organization. In 1888, a high court in Allahabad ruled that cow is not a “sacred” animal as defined in section 295 of the Indian Penal Code and muslims can not be held accountable for slaughtering them.
Cow sacrifice and consumption
Muslims used to sacrifice cows during Bakr-Id festival. Though goat slaughter is also permitted in muslim religion, cow is cheaper and it also became a symbol of asserting their rights and not to bow down to the demands from their Hindu neighbors.[4] Beef was a popular food for the british living in India.
Protection Movement
Historians argue that a symbol of cow was used as a means of mobilizing Hindus. In 1870s cow protection movements spread rapidly in Punjab, North-West provinces, Awadh and Rohilkhand. Arya Samaj had a tremendous role in skillfully converting this sentiment into a national movement.
The first Gaurakshini sabha (cow protection society) was established in Punjab in 1882.[5] The movement spread rapidly all over North India and to Bengal, Bombay, Madras and other central provinces. The organization rescued wandering cows and reclaimed them to groom in places called gaushalas (cow refugees). Charitable networks developed all through North India to collect rice from individuals and pool them all and sell them again to fund the gaushalas. Signature upto 350,000 in some places were collected to demand for a ban on cow sacrifice.[6]
During Dayananda’s time, cow protection was not so much an anti-muslim sentiment and he attempted to build a rational and respectable movement around this sentiment. It gradually became an issue of communal rivalry as it became a legal issue and calls for cow ban of slaughter were raised[7]
1893 riots
Cow protection sentiments reached its peak in 1893. Large public meetings were held in Nagpur, Hardwar and Banares to deplore beef-eaters as sub-human. Melodramas were conducted to display the plight of cows, inflammatory pamphlets were distributed demonizing those who sacrifice and eat them. Riots broke out between Hindus and Muslims in Mau in Azamgarh district and took 3 days to get government control.
It was precipitated by contradictory interpretations of a British local magistrate order. He had apparently asked all the muslims interested in cow slaughter to register which was in fact performed to identify problem-prone areas. However, the muslims had interpreted this as a promise of protection for those who wanted to perform sacrifice.[8]
The series of violent incidences also resulted in a riot in Bombay involving the working classes and places as far as in Rangoon, Burma. Fourty five communal riots broke out in six months and a total of 107 people were killed.[9]
References
- ^ Religious Nationalism, Hindus and Muslims in India, Peter van der Veer, p87-88, ISBN 0520082567
- ^ From Plassey to Partition, a History of modern India, Śekhara Bandyopādhyāẏa, p240, ISBN 8125025960
- ^ Hindu-Muslim relations in British India, g.R.Thursby, p77
- ^ Religious Nationalism, Hindus and Muslims in India, Peter van der Veer, p92, ISBN 0520082567
- ^ The Making of an Indian Metropolis, Colonial governance and public culture in Bombay, 1890/1920, Prashant Kidambi, p176, ISBN 9780754656128
- ^ Vishnu's crowded temple, India since the great rebellion, p67-69, Maria Misra, 2008, Yale University Press, ISBN 9780300137217
- ^ From Plassey to Partition, a History of modern India, Śekhara Bandyopādhyāẏa, p241, ISBN 8125025960
- ^ Religious Nationalism, Hindus and Muslims in India, Peter van der Veer, p92-93 ISBN 0520082567
- ^ Vishnu's crowded temple, India since the great rebellion, p67-69, Maria Misra, 2008, Yale University Press, ISBN 9780300137217