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Why this cow slaughter? Even Islam is against it By U. Mahesh Prabhu The ban on the cow slaughter, which is being demanded by premier Hindu organisations for ages, has always been looked upon as ?obscurantism?. In his book Muslim Politics in Secular India, a veteran journalist Hamid Dalwai writes ?? I oppose the ban (on cow slaughter) on agro economic grounds. But I oppose even more strongly on non-economic grounds, because if the Hindu belief in the sacredness of the cow is encouraged, it would prevent the Hindus from modernising themselves and from achieving a greater degree of social progress. The Hindus have slid backward only because of their religious obscurantism. Mahmud Ghazanvi could defeat Hindu armies simply by using herds of cows as a shield for his own army! One hopes that such history will not be repeated in modern times. Hindus must discard all those religious belief which hindered their progress and deprived them of their freedom.? Further adding ?I say this as a friend of the Hindus and not as an antagonist.? When we try to define mother, there are numerous dimensions to it. Mother is the one who gives birth, who looks after; feeds milk and loves you. Of the all, when the infant is born, the milk of the mother is no less than a potion. However, after few months our mother is unable to feed us milk, from where we become dependent on the cow. Considering its services, it is indeed our mother. And when we term her as our mother, we can seldom disrespect her, forget slaughtering her. Even in the Koran mother is considered next to Allah. With all good intentions of settling the long-standing contentious issues between the Hindus and Muslims amicably Darul Uloom, Deoband had issued fatwa. It was those of the rare fatwa that were appreciated by leaders of both the communities. When the fatwa was issued Shahi Imam of Fatehpuri mosque had said, ?There may be some people who indulge in cow slaughter, we ourselves discourage and stop them. We also want peace and communal harmony in the country. Since 1971, the day I took over as Shahi Imam of Fatehpuri mosque in Delhi, I always advised Muslims to keep in mind the sentiments of Hindus and not to indulge in any activity that hurt their sentiments. I think no Muslim should adopt rigid attitude on this issue. Undoubtedly, cow has religious importance for Hindus and their sentiments should not be hurt.? It would be noteworthy the Hikmat which dictates every Muslim that milk of the cow is greatly useful for health and beef is harmful for health as it causes various diseases. Most of the educated Muslims are aware of this fact and usually avoid it. Veteran Islamic scholar and director, Islamic Centre, New Delhi, Maulana Wahiddudin Khan had once stated: ?Islam has already banned it by teaching its followers not to indulge in any act that hurts the sentiments of their neighbours. If anyone is found indulging in any such practice anywhere in the country, he should be condemned jointly. We need to maintain cordial relations with the communities with whom we have to live.? Given these facts it is eminent that Muslims involving in cow slaughters are not just hurting the sentiments of Hindus, but also violating the fundamentals of Islam?which is always for the peace and harmony. Considering this, I suppose the Hindu organisations have to change its mindset the way it looks at the Muslim community. They must understand that you cannot blame the whole community for the misdeeds of a few. Likewise, those in the business of cow slaughter must understand the fact that even their religion and its prime leaders are against their acts. Lastly, I wish to put forward a view told to me by Akbar Ali, District (Udupi) Organiser of Jamat-e-Islami: ?I suppose people have to understand three fundamental things. 1. There is only one God. 2. We are children of one parent and finally 3. We are all Indians. In simple we are one family. And within any family there is bound to have difference of opinions, but they can never be settled with violence. Does any one fight with sword within a family when there is a conflict? If not, then why should we resort to arms in this case?? (The author is a columnist and consultant and can be contacted at umprabhu@rediffmail.com)

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