The BJP's coming to power in West Bengal, after what many critics describe as the machinations of the Election Commission and a process overlooked by the judiciary, has created a major scare among the Muslim minority of the state. The government has started erecting detention centres in every district to house alleged infiltrators from Bangladesh and has called for a grand memorial to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, among other initiatives.

One development, however, has caused considerable discomfort among sections of the Hindu population. It relates to the sustained campaign around cow-beef politics and the lynching of Muslims in the name of cow protection. As Eid approached, Hindus brought their cows and bulls to market for sale. To their horror, there were hardly any buyers for the cattle. Muslims had collectively decided not to sacrifice cows or bulls during Eid.

From the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind to Maulana Arshad Madani and politicians such as Asaduddin Owaisi, many Muslim leaders have begun demanding that the cow be declared India's national animal, replacing the tiger.

In the cattle markets, Muslims are reportedly telling Hindu sellers: "It is your mother; keep her at home." Many poor peasants rear these animals specifically for sale during Eid so that they can obtain a reasonable price and sustain their livelihood. They are now feeling disappointed and dejected as their calculations and expectations have gone awry.

Muslim communities have witnessed the massive wave of lynchings, particularly over the last twelve years, in the name of cow-beef politics. From Mohammad Akhlaq to Mohammad Junaid, there have been over a hundred incidents of lynching in recent years. Data compiled by IndiaSpend showed that between 2014 and 2018, at least 46 Muslims and Dalits were killed in cow-related violence.

One recalls the incident in Una, Gujarat, where four Dalits carrying dead cows for skinning were mercilessly flogged. Following this atrocity, young Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani launched a campaign urging Dalits to withdraw from traditional cow-related occupations and instead demand land rights.

The atmosphere created by cow vigilantes—well protected by those in power and ideologically supported by the RSS combine—has been frightening. Some religious leaders went so far as to say that the life of one cow was more valuable than the lives of many human beings.

Cow-related products have meanwhile been aggressively promoted. Baba Ramdev built a flourishing business around products such as cow urine. Sambit Patra, one of the BJP's principal spokespersons, once claimed that cow dung was more valuable than diamonds. Incidentally, he is a trained postgraduate in modern medicine.

Another academic in Gujarat attracted attention by claiming that cow urine contains gold. What a relief that would be at a time when gold prices are touching the roof!

Coming back to the Muslim community's collective decision, the immediate losers in this game of identity politics are poor Hindu farmers. It remains to be seen whether the Hindutva government will take the logical next step and declare the cow the national animal.

Should that happen, another group of losers may emerge: the largely non-Muslim owners of India's beef export industry. The largest beef exporters in India are not Muslims but members of affluent Hindu and Jain business communities.

Among them is the Sabharwal family-owned Al Kabeer Group, one of India's largest meat and carabeef processors, which operates a major slaughterhouse in Telangana. Arabian Exports Pvt. Ltd., a significant Mumbai-based exporter, has historically been associated with the Sunil Kapoor family. MKR Frozen Food Exports Pvt. Ltd., headquartered in New Delhi with facilities in Punjab, has been linked to Madan Abbott. PML Industries Pvt. Ltd., based in Chandigarh, is associated with members of the AS Bindra family.

Apart from beef politics, non-vegetarian food itself is increasingly looked down upon in sections of public discourse. Yet the reality of India's food culture is very different.

The consumption of beef remains common in Goa, the North-East and Kerala. More broadly, nearly three-fourths of Indians consume some form of non-vegetarian food. Fish dominates coastal regions, while chicken, mutton and other meats are widely consumed across the country.

Many people continue to assume that Brahmins do not eat non-vegetarian food. Yet Kashmiri Pandits are famous for their elaborate mutton dishes. Rogan Josh remains one of the most celebrated dishes of Kashmiri cuisine. Brahmins in Bihar also consume mutton and other non-vegetarian foods.

Facts, therefore, are often very different from popular perceptions. These perceptions are frequently cultivated to project Muslims as uniquely meat-eating and therefore somehow inherently violent.

During the West Bengal election campaign, Mamata Banerjee warned that under BJP rule, even machh-bhaat—fish and rice, Bengal's favourite meal—might become difficult to obtain. In response, Union Minister Anurag Thakur released a widely circulated video of himself eating machh-bhaat and assuring Bengalis that BJP-ruled states impose no restrictions on non-vegetarian food.

Food identity thus became a significant election issue. In another highly publicised gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ate jhal muri, the popular Bengali snack, to demonstrate solidarity with the people of Bengal.

Where have we arrived in our political discourse? How far are we willing to go in spreading hostility against vulnerable minorities?

The West Bengal experience reveals the depths to which sectarian politics can descend in the pursuit of electoral victory. Not only institutions but even popular common sense appears to have been deeply affected. While minorities suffer pain, insecurity and deprivation, leaders of communal politics cheerfully consume jhal muri and machh-bhaat while simultaneously propagating absurd links between food habits and violent tendencies.

One is reminded that the individual responsible for one of the greatest genocides in human history, Adolf Hitler, adopted vegetarianism during the latter part of his life.

In celebrating overwhelming electoral victories, Hindutva politicians often forget that Swami Vivekananda himself challenged many orthodox assumptions about food.

Speaking at the Shakespeare Club in Pasadena, California, on February 2, 1900, in a lecture on "Buddhistic India," Vivekananda declared:

"You will be astonished if I tell you that, according to old ceremonials, he is not a good Hindu who does not eat beef. On certain occasions he must sacrifice a bull and eat it."
(The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 3, Advaita Ashram, p. 536.)

To cap it all, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, one of the principal ideologues of Hindu nationalism, took a very different position from contemporary cow-protection politics. Savarkar argued that the cow was not a holy animal but a useful animal.

The irony is striking. The political movement that today derives enormous mileage from cow symbolism traces its ideological lineage to a leader who explicitly rejected the notion of cow worship.

Cow-beef politics, in that sense, appears to have come full circle.