A historian claimed that the ancient Hindus ate beef - and caused an uproar similar to the "Satan verses"
19.8.2002
"Sacred Cow: Beef in Indian Dietary Traditions", is a historiographical study. In other words, this is the kind of book that is read by a handful of experts and ends up forgotten on a library shelf. But when its author, Davijendra Narayan Jha, a historian at the University of Delhi, tried to publish it in India last year, there was an uproar the likes of which had not been seen since the publication of Salman Rushdie's The Devil's Verses in 1989. The reason: the author's assertion that ancient Hindus ate meat Beef.
Jah's book went to press last August. Within days, the publisher canceled the publication of the book and religious activists set fire to sections of it. Another publisher tried to publish it, but the Hyderabad Civil Court banned its publication. A spokesman for the World Hindu Council called the book "absolute heresy." A former member of parliament called on the government to arrest Jha. Anonymous callers threatened to kill him. For 10 months, Ja needed a police escort on his way to campus and back. After months of legal battle, Jah's lawyers succeeded in canceling the publication ban this spring and now the book has been published in Britain and the USA, under the name: "The Myth of the Sacred Cow".
Those who have walked the streets of India full of cows know that the Hindus, who make up more than 80% of the Indian population, give this animal a special status. Gandhi referred to the cow as "our mother", and said that the protection of cattle is "the fundamental fact of the Hindu religion". In some states in India, the law prohibits the killing of cows. Although cows and vegetarianism are central elements in the Hindu religion today, Jha says: "The ban on eating beef is indeed a symbol of the Hindu identity, but historically this is not true." In his book he collected a wealth of evidence for this. Relying on sources such as ancient scriptures, Sanskrit epics and archeological findings, Jha claims that "the 'sanctity' of the cow is a myth, and its meat was part of the early Indian dietary culture, which was not vegetarian." In one of the religious letters, the revered sage Yajnavalkya confesses his weakness for meat: "Some do not eat cow meat. I will eat it, provided it is soft."
Academics say none of this is new. In a recent review in the New York Times Literary Supplement, Wendy Doniger, a professor of the history of religion at the University of Chicago, wrote that Jha's book is "a dry academic review (…) that proves what every academic in India knows." The book is not 'Satan's Verses', it is an interesting academic book that does not describe Hindus as terrible people."
According to Jha, his book fell victim to the culture wars that have raged in India since the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power five years ago.
"The lines are drawn very clearly," said Jeh, "on one side of the barrier is cultural pluralism and democratic values. On the other side, Hindu fundamentalism and cultural nationalism."
In this context, even food has a political meaning. The Indian nationalists use vegetarianism to differentiate themselves from the immoral Muslim who eats beef. According to Doniger, Jha's book "contradicts the party's position, according to which Hindus have always lived in India and have never eaten cows, while Muslims have invaded the country, killed and eaten cows, and therefore must be destroyed."
By Emily Eakin, New York Times, published in Israel. The knowledge site was at that time part of the IOL portal of the Haaretz group
