29/06/17

As "guerras do bife" na Índia

To protest Modi, these Indians are cooking beef in public (Washington Post, 2017/06/06):
In this sleepy, palm-fringed city in southern India, eating beef has become a political act. On May 23, the Indian government introduced new anti-animal-cruelty rules, restricting the sale of cattle in markets. The move was widely interpreted as an attempt to close in on the country’s thriving beef industry, in line with right-wing Hindu ideology, according to which the cow is considered holy.

Some think the new rules are too draconian. For the past week here in the southern state of Kerala, people have gathered with pots and pans and firewood to cook beef and share it with strangers in the streets, a convivial form of protest. Many Hindus, who usually avoid cooking or eating beef, have joined the feasts. (...)

Small-time beef and leather traders will bear the brunt in India. Most of them are Muslims and lowest-caste Dalits — the people once called “untouchables” — since Hindus historically considered these jobs “unclean.” According to Jayakumari Devika, associate professor and historian at the Center for Development Studies in Kerala, the rules will allow large supermarket chains to control supply.
Not In My Name: Indians protest attacks on Muslims (Al-Jazeera, 2017/06/28):
Thousands of people have turned out in protests across India against a wave of attacks on Muslims by mobs that accuse them of killing cows or eating beef.

Waving "Not in My Name" banners and "Stop Cow Terrorism" placards on Wednesday, protesters braved monsoon rains in at least 10 cities including Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi where a cast of intellectuals and activists were joined by relatives of recent lynching victims.
Ocorre-me que tudo isto pode parecer estranho para nós, ocidentais - um governo da direita reacionária a aprovar legislação (alegadamente) contra a crueldade animal, e os sectores "progresistas", digamos (o Kerala, onde parece haver mais "festas do bife", é dos estados mais à esquerda da Índia), a apoiar manifestações em nome do direito a comer carne de vaca.

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