The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, November 20, 2002, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

M A I L B A G

Mahapanchayat & Dulina killings

AS an Arya Samaji hailing from the Jat belt of Haryana, I have strong objections to two of the resolutions passed by the Sarva-Khap Mahapanchayat held at Gurukul Jhajjar on Nov 2. The mahapanchayat was organised by the Haryana Goraksha Sangh to discuss the line of action with regard to the Dulina killings. The two objectionable resolutions are:

(1) That the state government should not initiate any inquiry into the incident. Otherwise, the Sarva-Khap’s in collaboration with other like-minded outfits like the Goraksha Sangh and the VHP would launch a statewide agitation.

One fails to understand why these extremists, many of whom claim to be Arya Samajis, are afraid of facing the truth through an independent inquiry, say by the CBI. Incidentally, truth is the first and foremost principle of the Arya Samaj. Yes, a serious and heinous crime of killing five poor Dalits by a mob in the presence of a police contingent, merely on the basis of a rumour of cow-slaughter has been committed. Why then this “fatwa” by the mahapanchyat? They have obviously something to hide. The truth must come out. Further, the media and enlightened folks in the public must initiate a sustained campaign to condemn this gruesome incident against humanity. The oppressive caste system must end once for all. Otherwise, the fear of conversions in Hindu society will never go away.

(2) Another resolution enunciated by Acharya Baldev Singh, Pardhan, Haryana Goraksha Sangh, says that the skin of a dead cow should not be removed. According to these worthies, the dead cow should instead be buried. What a suggestion in this modern age when organs like eyes, kidneys, skin etc of even human beings after death are being donated for the use of other less fortunate humans?

This stand of the Goraksha Sangh is against all the old and prevailing Hindu tenets and traditions. It does not make any economic sense also. Swami Dayanand, the founder of the Arya Samaj, and a great votary of cows, wrote in one of his publications “Go-krunanidhi” that cow is such a useful animal that even after death, it does not stop being beneficial to society. Its skin is used for making footwear and bones etc are put to many other uses. As is well known, that a section of the Dalits in the country has been making its living out of this profession for centuries.

Cow has been considered holy in our folklore because it has played a pivotal double role in the society. The cow gave us nutritious milk and its calves ploughed our fields for food. With changing times, tractors have made a great dent on its utility for agriculture. Further, the milk yield of the Indian cow has not kept pace with the increase in the population. Sadly, the milk yield of the Indian cow today is the lowest in the world. It is only 0.4 tonne per year per cow as against 9.5 tonnes of Isreal, 7.0 tons of the USA and 6.0 tonnes of Japan.

So to ensure that our cows keep on playing an important role in the economy, their breed must be improved by cross-breeding them with imported cows from advanced countries. Slogans alone will not save the cow from a very bleak future otherwise. Thus instead of day-dreaming, the Haryana Goraksha Sangh must get to work to improve its breed so as to restore the lost glory of our cows.

Dr K.S. BALAIN, Sonepat

Teachings of Hinduism

I do not expect Mr Abu Abraham to know the teachings of Hinduism. But I expect a highly respected journalist like him not to go off the balance and write what he has written (Nov. 3).

He writes: “Brahminism... does’nt believe in educating the lower castes.” But Balmiki, the author of the Ramayana, was a lower caste man. And the man who wrote the “Malayalam Ramayana”, Thumchath Ezuthachan, the father of Malayalam literature, was also a lower caste man.

Hinduism does not preach inequality, as Mr Abraham states. In fact, it is the only religion which identifies man with God. If its followers have abused it and mutilated the shastras through interpolations, so has been the experience of very religion. The very selection of four gospels out of many in Christianity and the role played by the Caliphate in preparing the Koran were the first distortions in Christianity and Islam.

M.S.N. MENON, New Delhi

Wastage of money, manpower

Who says India is a poor country? Imagine the money and time spent and wasted on the casting of 169 votes during the SGPC election at Amritsar. Crores of rupees were spent on security arrangements. The print and electronic media wasted so much on the coverage of the election.

BRIJ BEDI, Amritsar