April 12: Reading out Veer Savarkar chapter and verse to a raging bull may not be recommended standard operating procedure but you cannot accuse Sharad Pawar, the master of realpolitik, of not trying.
So it was at the launch of his autobiography last evening, when he literally borrowed a leaf from the Sangh parivar playbook to take the cow protectors by their horns.
Pawar pointed out that Hindutva ideologue Savarkar had opposed the idea of the cow becoming a "burden" on farmers. The observation came a few days after a dairy farmer was lynched in Rajasthan for legally buying cows. Earlier this week, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, while saying that violence would have an adverse impact on the cow-protection movement, had called for a nationwide ban on cow slaughter.
Speaking at New Delhi's National Museum while launching Apne Sharton Par (On My Own Terms), the Hindi translation of his autobiography, Pawar quoted Savarkar as saying that "cows shouldn't become a burden on farmers, if anyone eats cow meat then I don't hold him guilty".
The former Union minister and NCP chief expressed concern at the rising incidents of cow vigilantism and cited Savarkar. "Veer Savarkar laid down his life for independence, there should be no doubts in this regard. But the same Savarkar had said that cows shouldn't become a burden on farmers."
Some agriculture analysts have said that they have been noticing a shift away from the purchase of cows by dairy farmers who find buffaloes are a safer option in the wake of cow vigilantism. The resale value of cows beyond the milching phase has also substantially gone down, making it uneconomical for farmers to rear the animal.
Savarkar's assorted views on cow protection and worship had revolved around utility. Often a subject of controversy because of his "mercy petition" to the British when he was jailed in the Andamans, Savarkar had strongly favoured taking care of cows during their milching years but accepted cattle as a source of protein for the poor after their milching years were over.
On one occasion, Savarkar had compared cows and buffaloes with trees like banyan and peepal.
"They are useful to man, hence we are fond of them. To that extent, we might even consider them worthy of worship. Their protection, sustenance and well-being is our duty. In that sense alone, it is also our dharma! Does it not follow then that when under certain circumstances, that animal or tree becomes a source of trouble to mankind, it ceases to be worthy of sustenance or protection and as such its destruction is in humanitarian or national interests and becomes a human or national dharma?" Samagra Savarkar Vangmaya Vol. 2, a compilation of Savarkar's writings in Marathi, quotes him as saying in 1935.
Samagra Savarkar Vangmaya Vol. 3 quotes Savarkar as further saying: "Without spreading religious superstition, let the movement for cow protection be based and popularised on clear-cut and experimental economic and scientific principles. Then alone shall we achieve genuine cow protection like the Americans."
Savarkar was probably referring to the care bestowed on cows in the US during the milching years. In the 1930s, the Americans had introduced cattle-dipping (periodical bathing), facilitated grazing fields that provided quality fodder and ensured hygiene.
Professor D.N. Jha, who had taught history at Delhi University and served as a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research, said in a recent interview that "Savarkar was not in favour of cow protection".
"He (Savarkar) said there was no point in protecting the cow after a certain period of time. He ridiculed the hypocrisy of those who accused others of hurting their religious feelings," Jha said in the interview.
"They do not mind consuming cow urine but, at the same time, keep some people at arm's length," Jha quoted Savarkar as once saying, appearing to refer to cow-protection advocates' campaign against beef-eaters.