Communal or secular, need to keep cow out of votebank politics

To be or not to be… secular – that is the Shakespearean dilemma before us. And within that stands a hapless cow.

Rajya Sabha MP Dr Subhash Chandra hit the nub of the issue with a tweet on Wednesday, saying: “The new secularism definition according to some is - if you eat beef then you’re secular; if you don’t then you’re communal.” Unfortunately, that is where the Constitutional principle ‘Secular’ has landed up after going through years of abuse by political entities.

The word ‘Secular’ entered the Constitution of India through the very-controversial 42nd Amendment of 1976. Also called the 'Indira' Amendment because of provisions that made the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) all-powerful, this 'disruption' altered the description of India from “sovereign democratic republic” to a “sovereign, socialist secular democratic republic". Just two words added in the Preamble to the Constitution changed India forever.

The new secularism definition according to some is - if you eat beef then you’re secular; if you don’t then you’re communal — Dr. Subhash Chandra (@subhashchandra) May 31, 2017

The cow is, indeed, a polarising issue. There are those who slaughter and eat it, and then there are those who worship it. If you are an animal rights activist (or, if you are a cow), you would then like to be on the side of the latter. Going by the chit-chat in Left Liberal intelligentsia drawing rooms, there is also a third category of people who fall in the ‘cow-worshipper’ camp: The Communal.

The ‘slaughter’ camp, then by definition, includes the opposite of ‘Communal’ – the ‘Secular.’ This entire discourse, however, excludes both poor Hindu and Muslim families who live on rice and pulses – but have to suffer the lashings of a debate taking place far away from their lives.

Being secular or communal is not about eating or worshipping an animal. It is a state of mind, a mode of behaviour, a way of seeing things and reacting to them. However, thanks to decades of political engineering by a dynasty-driven party, ‘Secular’ has become a votebank from being a Constitutional ideal. And ‘Communal’ is anyone who does not fall into that votebank.

This week, secular is the person who eats beef, and communal is one who doesn’t. The tragedy of the 42nd Amendment lies in the fact that ‘Secular’ has become a political scissor rather than a stitching machine. It is being used to cut us into pieces, rather than stitching up wounds. In Kannur (Kerala), it was used to cut a calf. How more cruel and painful could it get?