Prioritising Cows over Humans: A Sad Affair of an Indian State

On the 5th of May 2021, the Yogi Adityanath government announced that it would set up helpdesks for cows in every district of India's northern state Uttar Pradesh (UP). To many, it came as a shock, given its timing when India (and the state) is going through an unprecedented second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, this news would not be such a surprise for those aware of the BJP's 'Cow Politics'. Last year during the pandemic, another BJP ruled state, Madhya Pradesh, formed a 'Cow Cabinet' for the conservation and welfare of cows, which was the first of its kind.

Do we need a Cow Helpdesk/Cabinet (how does Cowbinet sound)?

If you consider the 'pure' aspect of animal protection, then we certainly do, not only for cows but for every animal, especially the endangered ones. However, none of the other animals has been as lucky as a cow (there are laws actually, but you know, not that effective).

Talking about cow politics, back in 2018, the central government pushed for a 'uniform cattle protection law' to protect stray cows. Before that, cow-related issues have been a part of BJP's 1984, 1989, and1991 manifestos, and it continued to be on BJP's election manifesto till the 2014 elections. However, it was pretty surprising when the BJP did not mention anything about cow protection in its 2019 general elections manifesto (of course, they had other catchy matters to garner votes), which affirms that cow protection was just another vote bank.

Government's 'Cowpocracy' (Yes, I just invented this word)

I would like you to have a keen look at the statistics below (pic).

Here, the stats provided by Statista indicates that India is the second joint highest exporter of beef in the first quarter of 2021. One may try to refute the survey provided by foreign research centres (a recent trend that has emerged post the Freedom House's report on India's democracy). Still, there are established evidence of India being a prominent beef exporter through various other credible sources like Statista. Moreover, in 2015, when the BJP government was at the centre, India was the highest exporter of beef globally.

One may also ask (I know some will) what percentage of beef exported by India consists of water Buffalo as not the whole percentage is Cow's beef; unfortunately, there is no such clear report. Moreover, the Indian government claims that it only exports buffalo beef (but the government does not have such a report to back its claim) but at the same time restricts its domestic consumption, shows its 'cowpocrisy'.

Why the Sudden Need of a Cow Helpdesk?

Coming back to the primary issue, I know many of you must be curious about why is the UP government so keen on a cow policy. Are we not in the middle of a healthcare crisis? So here is the story, it is about the recently concluded Panchayat polls.

In Panchayat polls, usually, political parties refrain from putting their candidates in the fray, and most of the candidates are independent of any party affiliation. However, this year BJP, Samajwadi Party (SP) and other regional parties frayed some of its candidates.

The results that came out were not clear (no party publicised how many of their candidates won). However, many reports suggested that BJP faced a massive setback, whereas SP performed well and won more than BJP (even SP claimed so). But no, the 'Cow helpdesk' plan is not entirely to counter the result of the polls.

So, why such urgency? UP has its State Legislative Elections scheduled next year.

Being a state, which is one of the worst affected by the pandemic, it is still reeling under a massive second wave. The state has an active case of more than two lakhs, which is underreported, of course (as of 14th May). Moreover, the state's crisis management is already in question and is being heavily criticised for its mismanagement. People are seen gasping for oxygen, medicines, bed, and crying for the dear ones they could not save, and these visuals are very disturbing to the human eyes, but somehow not enough for the government, I guess. Given the state's current predicament, something like Cow helpdesk is the cruellest thing a government can do to its people.

Concluding Thoughts

If the state government is doing this to revamp its popularity, its plans are misguided to the core and a failed attempt. Sometimes, politicians need to think beyond politicising everything and save its people (yes, even those who did not vote for them). With regard to saving its image (if they really want to do), the state government needs to work hard on pandemic management rather than crushing down the voices who rightly question the government's actions or ask for help, and someone needs to tell this to the UP government.