Today my friend from Barielly called with excitement and proclaimed "today is Tippu Martyr Day" . He had seen an ad and called me since I am a die hard Tippu Sultan admirer.

 

Tippu Sultan was a great and chivalrous ruler of the Mysore Kingdom during the 18th century who fought against the British. His father had risen to the status of a king with his shrewd intellect and military strategies when he was deputed at Dindigul by the then King Krishnadevaraya. His son Tippu was exponential in his achievements and contributed immensely to the struggle against the British.

 

Very few people are aware that it is actually Tippu, who is the pioneer in rocket technology and rocket dynamics. Much earlier than Von brown invented the "rocket" Tippu used rocket missiles with backward thrust with independent torque much like the modern missile. There is a "Rocket Dibba" meaning Rocket house at srirangapatna close to the railway station where sadly used it as a garbage dump until recent times. Tippu was also one of the very few Kings who knew how to use Gun powder to its deadliest purpose in those days. He is widely considered a saint by the muslims for his pro-islamic works and initiatives. He promoted Persian and Kannada Languages and wrested control from the local rulers to form a formidable opposition to the British. His valor and Shrewd Military tactics are very well known and is known as the "Tiger of Mysore". Tippu Express, One of the most popular trains and my favorite in South Western Railways plies between Bangalore and Mysore. It is very sad to note Tippu has been always sidelined and his achievements aren't acknowledged to what actually it must be. There are many other unsung hereos in India whom we are yet to discover

My friend and I had landed in Delhi on a warm March morning and proceeded towards Gurgaon to  meet our friend who had been trapped in the NCR much to his dismay. Well, that's another story for someother time. We usually do not have a concrete plan but a skeleton to where we would like to visit. We had plans to visit Deoband, a small laid back village nestled deep inside, away from the civilization, though it's only a rough 170 km from Delhi. Deoband is synonymous with the Islamic seminary named Darul-uloom. It is more often known for the religious decrees from its Darul-ifta, the department which issues the decrees. Some of them, well, most of the decrees that are issued receive very sharp reactions. Well, we wanted nothing to do with that. Our purpose of visit was different. The seminary had received some priceless relics of Prophet (Peace be upon him) from the Topkapi Museum from Turkey ages ago. There was a towel that was used by the Prophet (Peace be upon him) which was on covert display. Not many people knew about this fact and we wanted to visit Deoband to see this relic and how the seminary functioned. 

 

We reached the ISBT at old Delhi since we missed the trains to Saharanpur. Deoband falls on the path enroute to Sahanranpur in Uttar Pradesh. We had hope that the buses would be clean like the one operated by the Rajasthan State Transport. The pickle was that, that Deoband was actually isolated and the only way to get there was the train  some 10 away or the dilapidated UP state run buses that seemed to cry when someone even boarded the buses. Even the buses actually were destined for a place which was 40 km away from Deoband. So we boarded a bus at 11.30 am that took us to a village called Nanauta. It was the dreaded Holi time. Naughty kids would hurl stoned and urine filled balloons at the buses that passed by. Thankfully, we escaped their disgusting ritual. We were dropped off at Nanauta at 5.30 pm, a mere 140 km from Delhi. We were clueless as to what our next mode of transport would be. We did not possess the exact coordinates to Deoband. Finally we boarded a small battered pick-up truck that was actaully a poultry vehicle and transported people as well. My friend went to the cabin seat and I settled down behind along with the chickens and other people. My friend was almost airborne seated in the vehicle with only his foot and a half of his posterior rested on the seat. The chickens began to roost around my feet with a soft clucking. I noticed people were clinging onto the side of the vehicle like the Galaopagos iguanas on moss coated rocks. After a bumpy ride we reached the outskirts of Deoband and walked to the seminary and reached there at 6.30 just in time for Maghreb prayers. The scene outside the seminary and the surroundings were of a different world. The people greeted us regarldless of being familiar. We were denied access to seminary since it was closed for visitors for the day. We weren't disappointed because we instantly decided to come back again after 3 or 4 days. There was nothing much we could do, since  Deoband falls asleeop by 8 or 9 pm. We were pondering over our next move. We had a only a small bag that contained water, some face tissues and some first-aid. 

 

I decided to go to Manali in Himachal Pradesh from Deoband and we started enquiring people around for directions to the nearest exit and mode of transport to get to the nearest town. One old man who was ironing clothes on a pushcart overheard our conversation, walked upto us and invited us to spend the night at his humble house. We politely refused even after his repeated requests. He gave us directions to go to the Highway from the maze of tiny jampacked streets around the seminary. We decided to hire an old man who pulled the cycle rickshaw cutting across Deoband in the moonlight night. Children who were playing on the streets started following us, running behind with laughter. We waved them gooodbye and the old man dropped us at the highway which was pitch dark with only an occasional spot of headlights from the passing trucks. we paid the man much more than what we had agreed. He kindly returned back the extra "tip" and after a lot of insistance from us, he kept the money and bid us goodbye and dissappeared into the maze of tiny streets in the darkness. 

 

 

 

 

 

The state of Karnataka had passed the Cow slaughter bill a year ago amidst a furore in the legislative assembly with the lukewarm Congress and JD(S) having spineless objections. There was no vote count and division of votes. Through an oral vote the bill passed without debate as the opposition was eating glue over it. The ruling Government is resorting to unfair rightist policies which in a way infringes the constitutional rights. 

 

The most prominent reason cited for the ban, is that the Cow is a sacred animal and cannot be slaughtered for any purpose. Well, 'ignorant' could be an understatement for the logic applied by our 'visionary' leaders who actually seem to be 'vision impaired' for the plain fact that, the bill is another extension of a draconian mindset. I wonder if banning cow slaughter would help at all. A huge section of the populace depends on the livelihood of products obtained by Cow slaughter. Beef is the staple non-veg food for a larger section of middle class people who cannot afford chicken, mutton or seafood on a regular staple basis.

 

Will the Government regulate other non-veg foods to compensate for the ban? Will it reduce Muttton and Chicken prices in this era of spiralling inflation? As per the constitution and referencing various wildlfie and forest acts, any slaugter, poaching or possession of an endangered or protected species that could create imbalance in the ecology, makes a thumping sense and should be rightly observed. With this point in the back of our minds, it's very unfair to ban Cow claughter. Cattle is domesticated and can easily be bred and replenished. It would not make sense if a Government headed by an Islamic cabinet in an Indian state decides to ban Pork citing that it hurts the sentiments of the "representative" voter. Meddling with people's right of dining lifestyle is a dangerous stunt. 

 

There are other vital issues that would arise by the bill. Leather, durables, laboratory products and pharmaceutical raw materials are some other products obtained by cattle slaughter. The livelihood of many people dependent on these industries would take a big hit and the Government seems very myopic on this front. What about the cattle that have grown old? The poor farmers who cannot afford to manitain them would look to stabling the old cattle at the government aided cattle homes that lack basic amenities and more or less the cattle are left to perish by an agonising death. If cow slaughter ban is effected, there would be a humungous rush towards these shelter homes to dump the old and void cattle that are apparently of no use. So will they not slaughter them to altleast salvage the products that could be obtained or left to die a slow merciless death? It would be so hypocritical if some contagious disease hits the cattle and culling is allowed. At a time where we still have evloving forest and land aquisition laws which have continual amendments, there is  no concrete plan to provide fodder to these cattle. They need green grazing pastures to produce healthy offsprings and maintain the cattle quality. On one hand, we have a very tepid effort towards afforestation and on the other hand we want to provide food for cattle while millions of children in India under the age group of 5 are malnourished according the UN report.

 

Coming back to the point that the cow being a sacred animal, the pantheism laws are not fully conformed by the people who claim cows to be sacred. the Palm, Neem, Sandalwood, Banana, Mango trees etc are considered very sacred and yet they are killed for their products and relished in a lip smacking manner. Will they introduce a bill banning felling of these trees? The rice and the wheat plant is uprooted and "killed" to provide sustainance for the 'vegans' who apparently don't indulge in blooshed and any killing.

 

Another preposterous reason cited was that the ban was effective in Gujarat and other states ( which are predominantly headed by so called right conservatives) and have apparently received very good response. They conveniently push under the carpet, the fact that alcohol has been banned too. So why not have a ban on alcohol that has infact ruined millions of lives and spread cirhossis and other fatal ailments. Wife beating and premature unnatural deaths are the worst consequences that have ruined the quality of life. Banning something that is basic in nature will surely effect illegal acivities and create a bigger mess. In Gujarat, beef and alcohol are available illegally and ultimately the government is losing out on the revenue since these are banned and there is no provision to collect taxes on illegal items. It's an absurd legislation.

 

Currently, the Karnataka cow slaughter bill has been sent back by the President's office to the legislative assembly for modicifations. A very "satisfying and encouraging" modification that can really make the cow slaughter bill highly plausible and "significant" that addresses all the grievances - Omitting Buffaloes from the bill!!!!!!!