Should cow slaughter
be banned?
No, cows are private property !
Naveen Mandava
Economic Times, New Delhi,
Libertarians oppose bans in principle — because
bans take away freedom. Further, in this case, the entire issue can be neatly solved by
applying the principle of private property rights.
Cows are private property. If one person wants to worship his cow, he should be free to do
so. And if another person wants to eat his cow, he should also be free to do so.
The critical point to note is that private property does not exist because of the law.
Rather, the law exists to protect private property.
This is something socialists have never realised. Hence they keep on making these
bloomers. In a ‘rule of law society', based on private property rights, the State and
its laws cannot interfere in private property.
Thus, the move to ban cow slaughter, by interfering in private property, should be struck
down as fundamentally opposed to the principles of good law.
Of course, our politicians are not serious about protecting the cow. They are looking for
a poll issue. They do not care that thousands of Indians die in road accidents — and
stray cows are a traffic hazard.
They will never make road safety a poll issue. It is time that real issues that affect the
lives of people — and not animals — became political priorities and electoral
issues.
Private property rights can also be applied to stray cattle: they should be seized and
auctioned off as they are straying on public property, and the State must maintain the
sanctity of public property.
Furthermore, this is clearly an attempt to impose theocratic laws on a multi-religious
society. Muslims, Christians, Buddhists (and this category includes Dalits) — all eat
beef. The politicians will end up politicising food, and the nasty smell of their
mendacity will destroy communal harmony.
In the final analysis, of course, it is not the job of the legislator to get us all to
Heaven.
If there is such a place, I am sure that entry will be based on one's deeds in life, and
not one's diet. So, away with these nefarious politics of food.