The Love of Cows of Hindu Nationalists

2021. Delhi, rush hour. A cow stretches its length right through the city center creating imposing traffic jams: the picture book image can make you smile, and yet ...

Since the ascension to power of the Hindu nationalist prime minister, Narendra Modi, in May 2014, the cow has become the center of attention.

The “cow is our mother,” the Hindu nationalists tirelessly assert, citing the most sacred texts of Vedism in support. In the state of Jharkhand, ambulances for cows were even launched in November 2015, while there is still no medical emergency number for Indians.

Mythologically, the cow is of great importance as it is the animal accompanying Krishna and Shiva, the two most revered deities in India.

Also, the defense of this animal is one of the principal levers in the hands of the ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in the promotion of the Hindutva, Hindu nationalist ideology, and hostility to religious minorities.

In most Indian states, the killing of cows is now illegal, with some going so far as to sanction the selling and possession of beef with up to ten years in prison.

Worse, “cow protection” groups regularly sow terror among religious minorities, Christian and Muslim, lynching those suspected of eating beef, or simply transporting animals to slaughterhouses.

A clever politician who intends to retain the votes of a nationalist base that he almost lost a few years ago, Narendra Modi has just announced the organization of a national exam on “cow science.”

The event, scheduled to last one hour, will be held on February 25, 2021; it will be possible to answer 100 multiple choice questions, in English, Hindi, and 12 regional Indian languages. Online registration will be open from January 14 to February 20.

If you want to review in order to be accepted for this exam, you will need to know inside out the propaganda manual that the government has just published, referring to the some 800 patients with Covid-19 cured by  “panchagavya,” a mixture of manure, urine, and cow’s milk.

And, do not overlook the study of the cow’s hump, which purports to filter solar rays and convert them into tiny gold nuggets in the urine—or milk, depending—of the sacred animal.

Icing on the cake, a section of the review is dedicated to the question: “What do famous people say about the cow?”

One will be happy to learn that “Jesus Christ said that killing a cow is like killing a human being”: blessed are the vegans, for the kingdom of the cattle is theirs...