Ranjona Banerji: Beware of the 'culture' shock

Demonstrators took part in a protest against a spate of murders targeting Muslims and Dalits under the pretext of cow vigilantism in Mumbai on Monday PicAFPEvery now and then we have little discussions in India on culture and what it means and how it has changed us Unlike France which seems to have very strict rules about what being French means culture remains changing and amorphous for the rest of the world It could be some small local custom in our culture we never go out on Saturdays as opposed to millions of others who only go out on SaturdaysBy a general rule of thumb if you give religious sanction to a cultural practice then you sit on top of the sanctimonious pile Besides its an excellent way of controlling people and slotting them into convenient pigeonholesThe current Indian cultural outrage is about cows It seems remarkable when you consider everything else that is going on in the country and in the world but somehow we have got fixated on this bovine ruminant It started with the ban on the slaughter of cow progeny fines for having beef in your refrigerator the courts did not like this one then an extended ban on buffaloes then a ban on taking cattle to the market in case they are bought for slaughter and now a regular practice of mob violence vandalism and murder in the name of cow protectionThis cultural distaste for the consumption of beef is hardly new and has long been common amongst upper caste Hindus many of whom are vegetarian It is not however as common with lower castes tribals and Indians of other religions for whom beef is a cheap meat and a source of nutritionBesides India does a roaring trade in the export of beef and had a flourishing leather industry including exports before cow is our mother crippled all that and dominated the national discoursePrime Minister Narendra Modi broke his long silence on the issue by condemning violence in the name of the cow last week Sadly an incident took place practically as he spoke as well as the next day and at least one more has happened since His message strong though some may have found it does not seem to have resonated amongst all the flockAnd not least amongst those who seem to have ignored the Prime Minister are his high society followers People who feel like the Prime Minister that mob violence has gone too far have been accused of suffering from rootless cosmopolitanism by commentators like veteran journalist Swapan Dasgupta Leave aside that this was a term used by Nazis to stigmatise Jews it shows a complete lack of compassion and of understanding that something has gone too far However upper caste Hindus feel about the cow and however much they worship it on what basis does that allow murderous mobs to run amuck across the country thrashing Dalits in Gujarat or killing young Muslim boys on trainsEven if no one has ever found mob violence offensive before why is disquiet today synonymous with some sort of snobbish distaste for insular vegetarians This is further stereotyping of all Indians who do not agree with mob violence As if only Indians of a certain type are upset Or perhaps it is culturally incorrect to feel pain when Muslims and Dalits are killed and illtreated according to rooted cosmopolitansThis refusal to see what is happening around one and justify every miserable action in the name of culture may be popular and even populist but it cannot sustain itself Culture in fact can often bite one in remarkable waysHere in Uttarakhand where I live there are several cultural ideas clashing with each other For one newspaper reports suggest that the newlyelected BJP state government is planning to make all government schools English medium from next yearThis move will appeal to all those parents who want their children to learn English though it is bound to rile Hindi nationalists Meanwhile the state government is sending mobile liquor shops all over the hills until an issue with licences for liquor shops can be sorted out At the same time oldtimers are upset that young people are drinking too much in new bars in Dehradun and changing the capital citys small town cultureI am looking forward to a whole lot of silence on this one as various kinds of aspirational cosmopolitan ideas fight with rooted prejudicesRanjona Banerji is a senior journalist You can follow her on Twitter ranjona Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom