Schoolchildren at a special screening of Rahul Bose's inspiring film Poorna, on the 13-year-old Poorna Malavath, who climbed Mount Everest. Pic/Meenakshi Shedde

India has become a cowering nation. Animals, especially cows, are valued far more than humans in today's India. In other words, you are lucky if you have horns. An udder, and you are set for life. The Minister of State for Home, Hansraj Ahir, has proposed that, like Project Tiger, the government create “cow sanctuaries” under Project Cow, with food banks for cows. Meanwhile, a man is beaten to death in Dadri because of rumours that he had stored beef in his fridge. A dairy farmer in Alwar who had bought a cow for milking, is lynched to death by gau rakshaks. On Facebook, there is a photo of a bunch of burly men in commando-style, bullet-proof vests, waving guns and pistols, one posing with a row of bullets across his shoulder. Turns out they are your friendly neighbourhood cow vigilantes, the Punjab Gau Rakshak. On the other hand, one tweet about the government's choice of UP chief minister, and the next thing, an FIR is registered against the ‘tweeter’ in Lucknow and now the Bombay High Court has granted him “transit pre-arrest bail.”