India has been called a functioning anarchy and the
land of a million mutinies, but the conflict that erupted last April at
Hyderabad’s English and Foreign Languages University was unusual by any
standard. Here are some of the many bones of contention in a complex issue.
***
On the last day
of April 2011, Dalit students—members of the Dalit Adivasi Bahujan Minority
Students’ Association (DABMSA) and Telangana Students’ Association (TSA) had
planned to conduct a beef festival by cooking beef on the campus of the English
and Foreign Languages University (EFLU). They
also claimed the support of all student unions apart from the Akhil Bharatiya
Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). The day was ripe with the promise of a rebellion,
for despite the overwhelming presence of a beef-eating community, beef was
banned on the campus—beef, Hindutva, nationalism; the narrative has been told
many times before.
The
ABVP’s opposition was structured along its usual lines: “O Hindus, come out
lawfully for the support of pro-Hindu ABVP who is fighting against inclusion of
‘beef’ in the hostel food guide. As per Hindu Dharma, cow is considered as one
of the most sacred deity (sic) and mother; but some Hindu traitors are trying
too (sic) include ‘beef’ in hostel food and they even tried to celebrate ‘Beef
Festival’ in this Hindu majority country.” (http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/11911.html)
(“There
are Hindu students whose beliefs would be hurt by such an act. We are
accountable to them and hence we are against the festival,” said a member of
the ABVP body on campus. But that was the extent of its response. There has
been no reply to requests for additional comments.)
According
to members of DABMSA and TSA, the ABVP activists barged into the campus
kitchen, threw down the vessels in which the beef was cooked, and desecrated
the food. The next day, beef supporters initiated a “food bandh” on campus,
closing down the messes, canteens and stores and demanding inclusion of beef in
the menu. They said that no food would be available on campus if their
demands were not met.
The
issue would fizzle out eventually, failing in many ways to fulfil its immense
potential of generating a path-breaking discourse—of a food culture that is
trying to make its voice heard. But not before it made people debate whether
the issue was just food or a much larger political problem—of caste, secularism
and liberal practices.
The
principals were both agitated and articulate, though some of their arguments
bordered on the esoteric, hinting at depths too great to plumb. Following are some responses to a questionnaire on the subject:
***
Ravichandran
Bhatran,
EFLU student; Leader of Dalit Students Union
Is this an
assertion of identity? If yes, what are the contexts?
Beef is a
cultural food for Dalits. The historical process led beef to be untouched by
the “mainstream”. Dalit emancipation lies in the cultural form of revolution.
The saddest part is Dalit movements have been kept busy fighting for
reservation and implementation of reservation. After Ambedkar no one has made a
successful contribution for a cultural revolution, though Mayawati is doing a
different level.
Dr
Ambedkar’s conversion movement has a national significance because people were
converted into (sic) Buddhism. And Periyar movement, though people say it is a
radical movement, never threatened Brahmins. Because they reject all religion.
But
Ambedkar rejected Hindusim and found Buddhism as an alternative.
Here
I would like to mention the Pariayar (playing parai), dandora movement. These were termed
untouchable musical instruments. The movements are still fighting to remove the
stigma. It did not see any opposition from the mainstream, because it is part
of a mainstream musical instrument. However, the mainstream still did not
recognise.
Dalit
movements also were not concentrating on promoting these instruments into
mainstream, rather they asserted their music within their spear (sic). But you
can see in many functions they call these people as a token of representation.
The issue of beef will not stop with token representation, rather it would include
Muslims along with Dalits.
It
is the fact, too, that in most of the anti-Muslim riots, Dalits, especially the
scavenging community, ended up killing Muslims. It means Dalits must be always
against the Muslims. One fact is the character of Valmiki, itself created
against the Muslims.
Also,
Dalits have a history of engaging with leather work, which was a source of
their livelihood, and beef was part of it.
What is the response of the campus? Have there been
ripples in HCU (Hyderabad Central University) as well?
Students
from the left too opposed, which showed their embedded Hindutva ideology.
Muslim opposed (sic) is not about the Hindutva ideology, thinking pork will
also be added in the menu, a campaign led by the Brahmins. (In) HCU at the
beginning there were ripples. But now there is no problem. It does not mean
they are providing in public. They don’t cook, they buy and eat, which was even
present in the EFLU campus. But cooking in the mess is the problem.
Does this have
the potential to become a movement? If yes, did it? If it did not, what were
the forces that stifled it?
Dr
Ambedkar said the embedded idea of Hinduism in everyone’s thought should be
unlearnt. That is the ultimate way to eradicate the caste system. Cultural
values of Hindus lie in the heart of beef. If we look (at) the history, the
Brahmins have consciously removed beef from the Dalits. And also the language
movement and everything was consciously made by the Brahmins.
The
police, administration, all were not allowing this movement to grow.
Is this
essentially a South v North issue?
From
outside if you see the issue it is south vs north. But I see different,
especially in the north during the 18th century. The Hindutva forces made
Dalits learn a different history, where untouchability was introduced by the
Muslims and left the practice of eating beef. Hence, there are Dalits who eat
pork in the north.
What does it
mean when the ABVP resorts to that old line of argument: “Including beef in
hostel menu will harm the sentiments of Hindu students”. (What do these
‘sentiments’ imply? How are they manipulated to form an extremist nationalist
agenda? Or is it the other way around; is it a rabid nationalist discourse that
actually provides the breeding ground for these kind of responses?)
If
that is the case, doesn’t our sentiment be harmed (sic) by saying ‘unholy’? In
our campus majority are Muslims, Dalits, foreigners and Malayalis, Bengalis.
How can we be a minority? It is not the sentiments that are hurt, but myth
stories (sic).
Is the liberal take
of tagging pork with beef potentially dangerous? (The liberals say: If beef,
why not pork?)
When
Dalits say we eat beef and include in the common mess, it means Dalits,
Christians, Muslims, etc, eat beef, which is not a minority issue. It is a
majority subjugated as minority. If pork has an audience let them serve, too.
In the north-east people eat dogs and snakes. Why these animals do not appear
in the discussion? When they take pork as a weapon, it means they are taking
Muslims as a weapon.
What is the
response of the University?
Blindly
rejecting. The police was not questioning who ransacked the mess. Rather, they
were concerned who cooked beef and why. Beef is not a banned food.
Can this be
pinned down to the emergence of Dalit community, in terms of sheer numbers
alone, with the advent of BA courses? What is the general mood prevalent in the
campus?
Every
revolution happens with sheer numbers. The pathetic story is, even so-called
civil society has rejected these movements. In Delhi, Ramdev and Anna (Hazare)
protesting, and civil society support, shows how much Hindutva ideology is
planted in everyone’s mind.
Certainly
not because of BA (we can read anyway we want). General mood is to oppose beef.
Malayalis, Bengalis, Muslims and certain Dalits; most of them eat beef, too,
rejected the movement.
In
Kerala people eat beef and say they are radical. But they eat as a food. Dalits
eat as cultural food. If we see the Onam festival we could say how much Hindu
ideology is imprinted in Malayalis too. Also, Muslims, Christians, Dalits are
majority in Kerala. Therefore they feel it is not a problem. However, I suspect
Kerala recognises beef. Overall, I feel understanding the scavenging community
will reveal Dalits at one level do subscribe to Hindutva ideology at a
different level.
***
Abhishek
Chatterjee
MA student, EFLU
Is this an
assertion of identity? If yes, what are the contexts?
Yes,
it is an assertion of identity. The lower castes have been historically
condemned to eating the flesh of dead animals. It is their food culture. They
see the disruption of their beef festival by upper caste students as an act of
violence on their food culture. They feel upper castes should no longer be
allowed to dictate what a lower caste person eats.
What is the
response of the campus? Have there been ripples in HCU as well?
The
campus is divided. An accurate response is difficult to gauge because the mess
closed down immediately after the incident, and most students left early for
vacations as there was no food on campus. The aggrieved students had requested
the private canteens to remain closed so that everybody could feel the
discomfort of being deprived of food.
Does this have
the potential to become a movement? If yes, did it? If it did not, what were
the forces that stifled it?
It
did have the potential, but it did not because of the timing of the
incident—summer vacation.
Is this
essentially a South v North issue?
It
is mostly a south vs north issue.
Is the liberal
take of tagging port with beef potentially dangerous?
The
take of tagging pork with beef is illogical and juvenile, because the
proponents of Hinduism have historically condemned the lower castes to eating
beef.
What is the
response of the University?
The
university called the police when the incident occurred. They have not said
much since. Police apparently chastised a professor for allowing students to
cook beef and hurt religious sentiments.
Can this be
pinned down to the emergence of the Dalit community, in terms of sheer numbers
alone, with the advent of BA courses?
Yes, it could
be. However, the recent coming of the ABVP into the political scene of EFLU has
poisoned the erstwhile secular nature of the campus. It is because of the ABVP
that the beef festival was interrupted. HCU has had a beef festival for many
years now.
What is the
general mood in the campus?
The
general mood, as said earlier, is hard to gauge because of the summer vacation.
***
Aparna Nandakumar
MA student, EFLU
Is this an
assertion of identity? If yes, what are the contexts?
I
believe the festival was organised to commemorate the birth anniversaries of
Ambedkar, Phule and Komaram Bhim, so, yes, in a sense, I guess it is. But
rather than look at the festival merely as an assertion of some ‘essential’
community identity, I’d look at it as a challenge to the hegemonic cultural
values which consider certain cultures dirty and inferior. Beef that way would
be symbolic of just one aspect of that ‘minor’ culture. I am not sure how far
the actual practice of eating or not eating beef is important here. Holding a
beef festival would be a political stance to spell out the implications of
either participating or opposing, and would thus have symbolic value.
What is the
response of the campus? Have there been ripples in HCU as well?
Well,
I was not on campus when the event actually happened. Two days later, when I
reached EFLU, I found there wasn’t much activity, apart from the fact that the
organisers had closed the messes and cafeterias in protest for a couple of
days. I’m not very sure about the overall response, but the people I spoke to
about it had either of the following reactions: (a) disgust at the way the ABVP
trashed the event and (b) a feeling that the organisers had invited trouble by
‘unnecessarily’ provoking reactions.
Does this have
the potential to become a movement? If yes, did it? If it did not, what were
the forces that stifled it?
If
you’re asking about the politicisation of beef, I guess that has been going on
for some years now. When Ansari (M T Ansari, eminent post-colonial scholar) was
studying at CIEFL (EFLU was formerly known as the Central Institute of English
and Foreign Languages), they organised something similar, and, of course, HCU
has regular beef stalls during Sukoon, the annual university fest.
If you’re asking
about the success of this particular incident, I’m not sure. First of all, it
happened during the vacation, and huge sections of the student community were
either not around or writing exams, if I remember correctly. Then, I think
there is a problem of consensus even within the organisations that came
together to hold this festival. I remember asking one member of DABMSA, one of
the organisations involved, and he said he had no idea what was happening.
Is this
essentially a South v North issue?
I’m
uncomfortable dubbing it “essentially” anything!
Is the liberal
take of tagging port with beef potentially dangerous?
Well,
I’m not sure what the liberal take is, but I have generally heard the question ‘but
what about pork’? from people who want to oppose the beef festival but aren’t
sure how exactly to do it without sounding blatantly casteist, or from people
who think that there’s some kind of minority appeasement and political
correctness that prevents us from discussing pork.
However,
I’m not sure whether the question of pork is at all relevant to the question of
beef. The cow is supposed to be a holy animal of ‘all Hindus’, a claim which is
highly problematic, and it is certain sections of the so-called Hindu community
itself that are bringing forward the demand for beef and protesting the
religious code that deems it illegitimate.
If
a similar demand comes from within some section of the Muslim community for
pork, there will be scope for discussing it. (Maybe you could also check with
Ansari regarding his experiences when he and others, as students, served both
beef and pork in the CIEFL mess; I don’t know who else were involved.)
What is the
response of the University?
If
you mean the administration, I’m not sure. However, I’d like to tell you about
something else connected to your question regarding the mess. The Basheer
hostel (men’s hostel) mess was trashed during the event and closed down for a
long time. The organisers of the beef festival closed down all messes and
cafeterias for two days in protest.
Later,
the reopening of our mess (the Mahlaqa Bai Chanda hostel mess) was again
delayed because of other reasons, the lack of mess secretaries or something.
Anyway, after a while, the administration suddenly came up with an order that
non veg would be completely banned in the messes (including eggs).
The
Dean of Hostels, who relayed the information to us at a meeting, used vague
terms like “forces that are trying to harm the university” and “dark times” and
other Lord of the Rings types lingo. He assured us that the ban was for our
peace and comfort.
We
all protested, we vegetarians being the loudest to protest this arbitrary
decision. We said none of us had any problem with non-veg in the mess, so how
could the administration decided that non-veg was the problem?
(I
need to also mention that many people in the mess assured him that we would not
serve beef or any kind of meat in the mess; there would only be chicken, fish
and egg; several people also expressed the view that it was unfair that the
entire student body was being ‘punished’ for the fault of ‘a few’ — I’m not
sure if they meant the organisers or the ABVP, but I feel they meant the
former.)
We
told him that we had not been consulted on this, and that we would continue
with the status quo (which includes chicken, fish and egg) until our mess secretaries
got to argue the case out with the committee that had passed this order. He
didn’t agree, but later the mess committee members went and spoke to the
Proctor or someone and got permission to carry on as before.
Can this be
pinned down to the emergence of Dalit community, in terms of sheer numbers
alone, with the advent of BA courses?
Again,
I’m not sure because I don’t know how EFLU was, prior to being made a central
university and before the BA courses started. But what’s the need to pin it
down to just one cause? The presence of a strong ABVP on campus, or maybe the
articulation of right-wing sentiments in other forms, could also be similarly
significant.
What is the
general mood in the campus?
There
doesn’t seem to be much of a general mood. As far as I have seen, for most
students, the issue has passed.
***
R Srivatsan
Anveshi Research Centre for Women’s Studies
Is this an
assertion of identity? If yes, what are the contexts?
I
think beef is being put forward as a political issue — the question is, is
India a vegetarian nation? The dominant answer that it is seems nowhere
near the truth. Both Muslims and some Dalits have to hide their food culture as
if it were a shameful affair. The beef festival both in HCU and EFLU were organised
as a cultural politics rather than as an identity question.
What is the
response of the campus? Have there been ripples in HCU as well?
The
campus is divided. I have no idea whether the HCU also responded.
Does this have
the potential to become a movement? If yes, did it? If it did not, what were
the forces that stifled it?
I
am not sure it has the potential to become a movement from EFLU or HCU, unless
larger interest groups take it up as a question to be pushed — the Muslim and
Dalit political parties, for instance.
Is this
essentially a South v North issue?
The
hooliganism is ABVP with a tinge of Bihar—apparently, the disrupters pissed in
the beef vessels.
Is the liberal
take of tagging pork with beef potentially dangerous?
Beef
and pork have different powers attached to their sensitivity. Saying yes to
beef goes against the Hindu mainstream. Saying no to pork is usually a business
decision in restaurants who want to ensure Muslim clientele come to them. There
is no fundamentalist firman in India saying pork should not be
eaten. This is perhaps different in the Muslim ruled countries.
Can this be
pinned down to the emergence of Dalit community, in terms of sheer numbers
alone, with the advent of BA courses?
This
is not simply the coming of many Dalit students — the move is part of a Dalit
activism that preceded the inflow.
What is the
general mood in the campus?
The
general mood is caution and restraint among the Dalits, but the students all
went away for their vacation so nothing much happened — I think.
***
Veena Shatrugna
Researcher,
National Institute of Nutrition
Is this an assertion of identity? If yes, what are
the contexts?
I
do not think it is only identity, there is a strong Dalit group, there is a
Telangana movement happening… I am sure there were problems in the mess, and
many other events. Eventually, all beef-eating castes joined in, with others
supporting, no doubt. Identity is too narrow a term to describe what
happened at EFLU.
What is the
response of the campus? Have there been ripples in HCU as well?
HCU
had a similar protest over three years ago when the VC forbade beef at one of
the food festivals. The students asked me for My ‘Official Endorsement’. I
actually gave them an official letter with a copy of a NIN publication where
beef is listed as one of the foods with a high protein content, etc. The VC had
no option except to permit beef. It was so-called ‘scientific’ evidence that
worked, not the pleas. The whole experience was eerie.
Does this have
the potential to become a movement? If yes, did it? If it did not, what were
the forces that stifled it?
Beef
can’t by itself provide the major fodder (sic) for the movement… it can
certainly raise many questions and support any simmering dissent among the
Dalits, I think.
Is this
essentially a South v North issue?
No
it was not that way… it was a coincidence that the upper caste, and Hindutva
groups were from Bihar… you don’t expect Dalits from Bihar to come to EFLU.
From a purely
nutrition point of view, what does beef stand for?
Good
food, also cheaper, with high quality protein. In fact, in the early 50s beef
was prescribed for patients who had tuberculosis… even Brahmins were urged to
eat it. After all, no vegetable protein is on par with animal protein. (Milk is
an animal protein, remember).
What does it
politically mean when the ABVP resorts to that old line of argument: “Including
beef in hostel menu will harm the sentiments of Hindu students”?
‘Hindu
and nationalist’ is being defined as upper caste and vegetarian…
Is the liberal
take of tagging pork with beef potentially dangerous?
That
has not happened… I do not expect the Hindutva forces to insist on making pork
in the hostel… they have perfected enough methods of humiliating Muslims.
What is the
general mood prevalent in the campus?
Combative…
or shall I say upbeat!
***
No comments:
Post a Comment