Spare Cow - Gain Compassion-by Dr Narotam Dewan
Author. The evolution of sparing the cow in Indian civilization is itsfountain head of compassion developed over thousands of years.The development of psychosocial concept of giving respectable status to cows like that of breast feeding mothers...
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Oct 13, 2015 12:30
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Author.
The evolution of sparing the cow in Indian civilization is itsfountain head of compassion developed over thousands of years.The development of psychosocial concept of giving respectable status to cows like that of breast feeding mothers or milk mothers is a unique accomplishment of Indian society as this taught kindness and compassion to the society. As such a large percentage of our society was and is vegetarian due to same concept of compassion towards living beings and their feelings. Even Mahatma Gandhi ji sang in his meetings – Vaishnava (devotees of God) people are those who feel pain of others.
This evolution has nothing to do with religion or politics, this isdevelopment of our social system over passage of time.Integrating cow at a respectable place in human society and families has devolved as our customs and belief. This great achievement of our society is being utilized by the politicians and religious leaders for their vested interests. Some politicians are trying to get votes by instigating those who like to eat beef whileothers are using it to get votes from those consider it a pious animal akin to the breast feeding mother. In the process, the culture of India developed painstakingly over thousands of years is being challenged and put to test.
Utilizing cows for milk only and not for flesh was a mile stone social development in Indian subcontinent which provides social justice in the society. When we use cow for meat it is lost in a day, killed and eaten. However, when we use it for milk only, it nourishes people over many decades. The sparing of cows from being killed for fleshhelps economically weaker sections of the society in a big way. This increases the availability of cows in the society which would otherwise had been eaten away by the rich. European countries are facing this problem where large quantities of fodder are used to feed pigs and cows over decades just for little flesh. This causes sever burden on agricultural land and economy. In this process large areas of fertile lands are diverted to produce fodder instead of grain. Similar is the case of monogamy, earlier the rich in our society were having many wives while the poor found it difficult to have even one life partner.
India being a country with large population involved in agriculture the combination of home, fields for grain and cows for milk worked very well. It provided collateral benefits of bulls pulling carts, working at grinding machines, pulling water from the wells, ploughing the fields and providing rich manure for agriculture. Beef eating developed in civilizations outside ancient Indian where the water was not enough and land was deserted. There the people will purchase cows from outside just to be used for meat as they had no natural grazing grounds to feed these.
Long before chemical fertilizerswere discovered cow dung mixed with leaves was matured into a natural healthy fertilizer and was the sole manure. Even to date it is the best manure to maintain the fertility of the soil over long periods. It did not result in very high yield but by addition of biochemical matter to the soil the march of desert is stopped. Reckless use of chemical fertilizers is getting bumper crops but the land is losing its basic strength to remain supportive for crops over long time. There is need to maintain a balance between use of chemical and natural manure.
To my mind the compassion for cows and other animals is a shining jewel in the crown of Indian civilization.
Those who cannot live without eating flesh can definitely spare cow as an exception. The cow deserves this consideration. As per the law of India also nobody should perform acts which hurt the religious feeling of other citizens, so why should these be hurt when this is not unavoidable.
(Dr Narotam Dewan is Consultant surgeon, Dewan Hospital and Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery Center; President, Mahatma Gandhi Sidhant Kendra; General Secretary, Freedom Fighters’ Successors’ Organization of India, Punjab, and Former President, Indian Medical Association, Ludhiana.)
Date:
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
