Should India BAN MEAT?
Today I am going to tell you about Should India BAN MEAT.
Around a week ago,
South Delhi’s mayor, Mukesh Suryan said that all the meat shops in South Delhi would remain closed till Navratri is over. 99% of places in Delhi do not use garlic and onion during Navratri. This data point is slightly misquoted because, in South Delhi, the Hindu population is only 79%. But maybe that was not the point Surryan was trying to make. His point was that the religious sentiments of Hindus should not be hurt during a religious festival. This is the same argument many people were giving when justifying why the students should not eat non-veg on the JNU campus during Ram Navmi.
Which also led to violence on the campus. But if banning meat is about respecting the sentiments of Hindus during festivals, how can we talk about the Bengali Hindu culture, in which Maa Kali is offered all sorts of nonveg during Navratri? Moreover, what about a temple in Deogarh, Jharkhand, where during Durga puja, lord shiva is offered 150 goats as an offering? So the question of the meat ban is extremely complex. Considering that India is a country, where culture, language, and eating practices change every kilometer.
Also, for Indians of any religion, food is an important part of their religious identity Pew research surveyed Indians two years ago and they found that more believed that people who ate beef or pork cannot be part of their religion So eating pork or beef is more blasphemous than not believing in God! Now in this video, we will try to break down the topic of the meat ban and discuss both the different arguments of those that are in favor of the meat ban and those that are against it. The first question is, does the majority want a meat ban?
And second-even if the majority does want to ban meat, is it justified to listen to the majority? Let’s address the first question. For this purpose, we will use three different large-scale surveys by NSSO, NFHW, and IHDS. All three surveys point out that India has 37%, 25%, and 23% vegetarians. While there were some variations in the three surveys, one thing that ran common India’s majority population is not vegetarian. If we talk of the Hindu population, then according to surveys, less than 50% of Hindus are vegetarian this statistic has a lot of variation across India as well.
Because while in states like Kerala, Bengal, Assam, and Andhra Pradesh the vegetarian population is very low, on the other hand, the majority population is vegetarian in the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Punjab. So, we can not have a single rule all across India. At the same time, it’s true that in northern and western India, vegetarians are in majority. This is why they demand that there should be restrictions on non-veg food during festivals. This brings us to the second question.
let’s say that a majority of the people in South Delhi want to ban meat during Navratri. The first is, that if middle east countries like Saudi Arabia can ban all food outlets during the daytime in Ramzan to respect the fasting of Muslims If they can do, why can’t we ban meat in Delhi? There are such rules in place in India already. they were saying that the majority community’s rights matter more an individual rights. Which is fine to believe in. there is no issue with that. The issue only arises when you use this rule selectively.
If you choose communal rights or individual rights, Whatever decision you take should be applied all across the country. The second reason for the meat ban can be the health risks of eating meat. The third reason to ban meat is its impact on the climate. The point is that because of more meat consumption, more animals are being raised due to which soil quality is decreasing and the groundwater level is also going down. Now, let’s look at some arguments against implementing a meat ban.
The first argument is about our right to privacy –
which has been talked about by a lot of courts. in 2017, Supreme Court gave a landmark judgment establishing that people’s privacy is a part of their fundamental right.
Another counter-
argument is that the mast ban in India is neither about health nor climate change. It is only about religious sentiment. this is why who eats meat in India and who doesn’t is decided by health or climate change- it is decided by your caste.
The third reason –
India’s protein consumption is very low. A counterargument you can give is that eggs or chicken are not the only way to provide protein. There can be other vegetarian options too, like paneer or soya bean. But in a resource-deficient country like India, eggs are a very convenient way to give protein to children.
Hopefully, by now, you must have gotten an overview of this debate. the arguments that are for and against the Should India BAN MEAT.
