Holy Cow

EPW has done a great service by reprinting in the Web Exclusives (http://www.epw.in/glimpses-past/demand-total-ban-cow-slaughter-kerala-and-west-bengal.html) the thoughts of K N Raj from 1979 on the long-standing contentious issue of cow slaughter in India. If one reads his article with a rational mindset one will find that it not only makes a lot of sense but also shows that India should lift the ban on cow slaughter in all states.

In 2014 Suresh Babu of the International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington DC, gave a seminar on the agricultural development strategy for India in the World Bank. Many of those attending had worked on agriculture in India and in other countries, including China. Suresh Babu’s seminar discussed several important and strategic issues concerning Indian agriculture, such as subsidies, research and extension institutions, markets, but left out the livestock sector. After Suresh Babu’s presentation was over, one of the retired World Bank staff who had an operational experience in China asked a point blank question about the issue of meat consumption, including beef, in India. There was no discussion on this and the question was left unanswered. Such is the nature of international dialogue when it comes to India’s story of the livestock sector.