Does Madhya Pradesh’s ‘cow cabinet’ care about cows?

In November, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan announced the creation of a ‘cow cabinet,’ ostensibly meant to protect cattle while promoting their use for dairy products throughout the state. The announcement came amid an atmosphere of increasing violence perpetrated in the name of cow protection. Fearmongering and violence by so-called Hindu nationalists in the name of cow protection, and the cow cabinet’s initiative for cattle promotion raise the question whether Chauhan’s cabinet will only accomplish more violence against people and cows.

In addition to promoting violence against people, Chauhan’s cow cabinet advocates for cow husbandry and breeding—things that will increase violence against cows as well. Madhya Pradesh is one of the major milk-producing states in India. Producing milk requires controlling the cow’s body and physically manipulating it through processes such as artificial insemination since cows only produce milk during pregnancies and shortly after giving birth. As per the MP State Cooperative Dairy Federation Ltd., over 601,450 artificial inseminations were performed at 1,102 Artificial Insemination Centres in the 2018-2019 period. Artificial insemination is a painful process, involving the deposition of stored semen directly into the animal’s uterus to impregnate it. The procedure is performed using hands and tools, such as a tube for insertion into the vagina. After the cow gives birth, its calf is separated from the lactating mother to make the milk available for human consumption instead. The cow cabinet’s goal of promotion and protection of cattle is a position at odds with itself since cows are not protected when they’re being exploited for milk.

In September 2017, Kamdhenu Gau Abhyaranya, touted as India’s first cow sanctuary, was set up by the then BJP government in Madhya Pradesh. During this development, Swami Akhileshwaranand Giri, chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Gau Samvardhan Board stated that the cow could play an important role in uplifting the country’s economy, helping India leave behind other major economies. Such a statement coming from a vocal speaker on cow protection and conservation indicates how the cow is perceived merely as a beneficial resource.

The cow cabinet fails to address other ways that cows are harmed in the dairy industry and in cow shelters. In dairy production, after five to six years of continually forced impregnation, cows’ bodies are considered “spent” and can no longer produce milk optimally. Cows are then either abandoned or slaughtered. While a small number of cows end up in shelters, these facilities are known to keep cows in appalling conditions, with many of the animals dying from starvation or negligence.

In over a year of the first cow sanctuary’s establishment, more than 600 cows died due to extreme weather conditions. The sanctuary began to face fodder and water shortage, and therefore talk of privatising the institution began. In 2019, Lakhan Singh Yadav, the then Minister for Animal Husbandry in the Congress-led MP state government stated that privatisation would not mean handing over the sanctuary to a company for money-making, but rather to allow a social or religious organisation to manage it and serve the cows as well-qualified organisations know that non-milch cows are also beneficial in many respects. For all the cow protection rhetoric, it seems the so-called protectors of the cow cannot but see the cow as a means to an end.

The concept of ‘holy mother cow’ is exploited to validate milk consumption by the same people who claim to respect and protect cows. In the first meeting of the cow cabinet on November 22 last year, Chauhan announced some of the plans of the cow cabinet. He referred to cow’s milk as “Amrit” (nectar). He proclaimed that the earth will sustain itself if cows are saved, lauding the alleged benefits of cow’s milk, urine and dung. The so-called Hindu nationalists assert that cows should be protected and worshipped as they “give us” or “provide us” with their milk, like a mother. Such romanticisation of cow’s milk erases the harsh reality that it’s not the cows that voluntarily and willingly provide us milk but it’s the humans who take away their milk that solely belongs to their new-born calves. They deem cows worthy of respect and protection only because cows serve, or rather are made to serve, humans in various ways.

Chauhan’s cow cabinet is going to further exploit cows and increase the incidents of violence against marginalised communities in the name of cow protection. Those who claim to be the protectors of cows and take pride in consuming cow’s milk and urine also partake in the exploitation, harming and abandonment of cows which they consider to be “holy” and “motherly”. The cow’s existence is perceived as important only because of the benefits that could be gained through their exploitation in multiple forms. The cows, amidst the politics of humans, are used as tools to continue the cycle of oppression against them and some sections of society while being revered and worshipped as a mother.

(The writer is a freelancer based in Bokaro Steel City)