We are bathing in rivers of blood of the cattle slaughtered in our country; the destruction of creation is around the corner, believes Yogi Ashwini
The 7-km stretch from Assam to West Bengal on the Bangladesh border is a hub of illegal cattle trafficking. The cattle, which is worth Rs 500-1,000 in India, fetches a price of over Rs 40,000 across the border. Authorities are abreast with this reality and yet over 40,000 cattle were caught on the border in January-August 2016 as against 4,000 in January-December 2015, indicating little is being done to stop the trade. It is a trade worth $500 million annually. This money, according to sources, goes into funding terror outfits, arms smuggling, fake currency etc.
As per a news report, HuJI cadre Azizur Rehman Sardar confessed to being a cattle smuggler as well as a smuggler for arms and ammunition for terrorist groups from West Bengal. In the same year, the Animal Welfare Department of the Ministry of Environment and Forest wrote a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs stating the possibility of money from cattle smuggling being used to fund terror organisations and their sleeper cells operating in India.
But then if it acts as any consolation, you are more likely to die of eating meat of the cattle, than from a terror attack funded by its smuggling.
Most cattle in India eat plastics, hospital wastes, chemicals and even sanitary napkins from open garbage dumps. The toxins they take in leech into their meat and cause diseases in humans. At the Havard University, researchers found that individuals eating beef, pork or lamb daily have approximately three times the risk of colon cancer in comparison to people who generally avoid it. When beef is eaten, the heme content in it floats in the intestine and it is toxic to the intestinal lining and promotes the absorption of toxic products which can cause colon cancer. High amounts of coagulants are found in cow meat that thicken the blood, hampering the normal functioning of heart leading to a plethora of cardio-vascular diseases and at times even proving fatal. Beef increases the incidence of Type II Diabetes and is toxic to the liver.
According to study by Dr Mikkel Hindhede published inJournal of American Medical Association, during World War I, when Denmark was cut off from all imports, including food, and instead of raising livestock, they started feeding grains to three million citizens, it was found that death rate in Copenhagen by disease was by far the lowest in recorded history! Similar results were found in Norway and Britain during World War II. Dr Prasan Prabhakar of laxmi Hospital, Kochi, prescribed a beef-free diet to a patient with abnormal liver function tests as evidenced by an elevated SGPT levels and found upon revaluation that his liver function tests were normal and energy levels much better. Dr Shalini Mishra from Mumbai reported a marked improvement in patients with chronic abdominal pain, or symptoms of hypothyroidism, hypertension, breathlessness etc when they were put on a beef-free diet.
Religions and cultures across the globe have emphasised upon service to cow and opposed consumption of its meat. In Vedas, cow is called dhenu, the residence of all bounties. The 28th Sukta of 6th Mandal of Rigveda directs everyone to ensure that cows are free from miseries and kept healthy. In fact cow is called ‘aditi’ in Rigveda, one which ought not to be cut into pieces (Maa gaamanaagaamaditim vadhishta — Rigveda 8.101.15), and cow slaughter is called a crime as heinous as human murder (Aare gohaa nrhaa vadho vo astu — Rigveda 7.56.17).
Islam, too, talks of compassion towards all beings. Cow sacrifice is not a religious dictate in Islam. Sura Al Bakr of Quran, in naming the quadrupeds for sacrifice, does not mention cow. Also as per Islam, the animal has to be paak (pure) — that is, it should not be injured, diseased, stolen etc, whereas most cows and calves that are slaughtered are fed on garbage, plagued with disease and illegally procured. In fact, noted Hadith scholar Ghazali in his Ihya-ulum-ud-din observes that beef creates disease, milk is cure and clarified butter has medicinal properties.
Saving cow is a sign of prosperity. It is said that if you regularly feed cows and they lick your head, your hidden mental abilities fructify — this was true of Sant Kabir; his poetic abilities manifested only once he was licked by a cow on his head. Even today, those who serve this magical animal are not left disappointed. A volunteer at Dhyan Foundation, who is actively involved in saving cows, was barely three months into his job at a media house when he did a story on the five-legged cow. That story was published all across the globe, bringing him international fame. Another sadhak, who was crunched for resources but wanted to study abroad, started serving cows and would whisper his wish in the ears of a bull daily. Within three months, funds were arranged miraculously, and today he is studying at a top university in the US.
Just like the karmic benefits of serving cow are manifold, the karmic implications of causing hurt to it are severe. It was said of kingdoms that prospered, that rivers of milk flow there, that is, the cattle was well taken care of. And those where rivers of blood flowed, met their downfall.
Article 48 of our Constitution directs the state to protect cows and its progeny. Accordingly, 29 States have passed laws to prevent its slaughter. And yet the trade is thriving because of corruption and failure to enforce the laws. The Revolt of 1857, which brought the nation together to fight the common enemy, was triggered by cow fat. Today, 160 years later, independent India is digging graves of the nationalistic ideals by public slaughter of calves, beef fests, and more. Effects on our bodies are immediate, effects on our lives would take a few years to manifest and pain that the human civilisation is going through today is possibly the effect of this cause. We are bathing in rivers of blood, the destruction of creation is around the corner.
The writer is the guiding light of Dhyan Foundation