Very inspiring – Thanks to http://www.dandavats.com
By Urmila Devi Dasi
A cow protection movement strongly supported by Muslims has registered Success in Haryana and Rajasthan.
For once the Hindu fundamentalists have been disarmed. This is a result Of involvement of Meo Muslims in the Mewat region of Haryana and adjoining Rajasthan in an inspiring movement to protect the cow.
Tiding over communal rivalries and bigoted mindsets, cow protection has Become the ‘mantra’ in the barren and impoverished countryside of Mewat Region, home to the 37-lakh strong Meo Muslim community.
A region where cow slaughter was the order of the day until a few years ago With nearly 3,000 cows being slaughtered every day, the cow protection Movement has gained ground with obvious results.
“Now, only about 100 cows are reported slaughtered in a month,” says M S Ahluwalia, the man behind the mass movement dedicated to the protection of Cows under the aegis of Sankalp India Parivar.
“We have set a target of making Mewat a slaughter-free zone by 2010″, Ahluwalia told Deccan Herald.
The key to achieving this unlikely task was linking cow protection to Economic prudence, devoid of any religious connotation.
When Ahluwalia’s father, Vaid Nathu Singh, started the movement in 1987 he And his activists were faced with a Herculean task of convincing the Muslim Community about cow protection and its attendant economic benefits. Twenty two years down the line his son saw his vision translating into Reality when a crowd of 25,000, the majority Meo Muslims, that had Assembled at village Pinangwa, the native place of Nathu Singh to pay homage
On his first death anniversary on February 28, chanted “gau Mata ki jai”.
The father-son duo has inspired hundreds of Meo Muslims to become gwalas
(cow rearers). Each gwala takes care of 100 to 400 cows. The movement has Led to 1.32 lakh cows being brought under the tutelage of gwalas. “It Required sustained work by our activists to educate and raise Awareness among people of Mewat over the years, surpassing many hurdles Created by fundamentalist groups representing both Hindus and Muslims,” says Ahluwalia.
It has brought economic prosperity to the poor populace as cow milk and milk products bring good returns. “Milk products prepared by the gwalas are Pure compared to spurious milk products in the market, and it fetches them Good money”, says Ahluwalia.
No stand-alone gaushalas (cow shelters) have been opened in the region and Not a single rupee is accepted by his movement from anybody as donation. Ahluwalia, a former bureaucrat and a former member of the Central Animal Welfare Board, quit his job to plunge full-time into the cow protection Movement.
A fine of Rs 51,000 was also imposed on anyone found guilty of cow Slaughter. The collection was taken care of by the Meo community. Pointing To the success of the movement, Ahluwalia says that a sum of nearly Rs 35 Lakh had been collected as fine from those indulging in cow slaughter. Muslims themselves were coming forward to report incidents of slaughter, he Pointed out.
The movement has travelled to Meo Muslim belt of Alwar and Bharatpur in Neighbouring Rajasthan.
Categories: Samrakshanam
When large-scale conversion took place and the converted Hindus refused and avoided taking beef they were forced to eat beef to prove their Muslim identity and stop reconversion back to Hinduism (in the early days of conversion)But there were none to slaughter cows as they were worshiped animals.Lot of money was offered for cow slaughter but no Hindu or Muslim was ready to do the heinous job.After much advertisement and persuasion and offer of money one poor group of Muslims came forward to slaughter cows and they were called Siddiqies.Thus started cow slaughter in India.
I’M UNHAPPY WITH THE USE OF THE WORDS ‘HINDU FUNDAMENTALISTS’. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? PROTESTING COW-SLAUGHTER MAKES ONE A FUNDAMENTALIST?
LALITHA
This is good news, very good news indeed.A few points to reflect on;
i. Many Hindu practices considered religious are economic at the base. Cow protection is the prime example’But they need to be explained in a scientific manner to the younger generation. many aspects of cow dung have been scientifically investigated and proved, but generally ignored by the ‘educated’.If you observe, school going youngsters in our villages do not even touch cow dung!
2.Cow slaughter was banned by Akbar himself and was in force for long. It was repealed by the English and this was continued by their successors, Congresswallas, in spite of the Mahatma, and in spite of the Constitution.
3. While protecting the cow is a religious duty for the Hindus, eating beef ( by killing cows) is not a religious duty for the Muslims! If ordinary Hindus and Muslims talk to each other, they may reach better understanding..
.4. There has been subtle change in the attitude of Muslims in general in the last 2 decades. There has been a hardening of certencies tendencies among them. Hence the rise in cow slaughter. This is not the place to go into details. But muslims were not like this in the 50s/60s. I had many good muslim friends in school and college and still have. But the community has changed See the rise in use of Purdah in the last few years, even among college goers now.This was not so till a few years ago. Whatever it is, ordinary Hindus -Muslims can talk in a non religious and non -political atmosphere.
5 It is an excellent idea and basic secret not to have stand-alone goshalas. It is not economically viable, even as a commercial enterprise, even among dairy men. Amul owed its success not to large dairy farms but to a large number of animal keepers, operating individually..Our Chandigarh brothers have gt the secret by the grace of God. I bow to them..
Yes. Very laudable. Hope this happens everywhere. Not sure what you mean by Hindu fundamentalists. I am sure you are aware of what ” fundamentlists” connot, Avid followers of Hinduism are not fundamentalists.