Twitter Class Politics

Meaning of Cattle Class Travel for Holy Cows in Kerala

Shashi Tharoor may have got a pay cheque from Twitter for giving them such an unprecedented free publicity, and may be Sonia Gandhi was inspired by her Roman Catholic inquisitions when she reprimanded Mr. Tharoor for his Twitter comments, but I wonder why no aam admi asked how he was expected to get insulted by Tharoor’s comments on economy class travellers: Since when aam admi started to travel in aeroplanes?

Shashi Tharoor may have made a Holy Insult to Sonia/Rahul’s Austerity Drive, and may be he would also have received a Twittering Treatment for himself, but how could Maneka Gandhi remain silent seeing cows being abused by being compared with Sonia/Rahul?

This is what had actually happened, rest all is Twitter Class Politics:

Guest: “Tell us Minister; next time you travel to Kerala, will it be cattle class?”

Shashi Tharoor: "Absolutely, in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows."

We would now try to find out missing links between three things at the centre of this controversy: (1) Kerala (2) Holy Cows, (3) Cattle Class.

Parts of the article ‘Beef without borders’ (Frontline, Sep 12, 2003) completes the picture:

The meat trade in Kerala evokes images of a savage cattle trail: cows and bulls jammed into trucks and box cars coming from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh, or tied horn-to-horn in small groups, trudging across the inter-State border. The crossover is often done surreptitiously, the animals going without food, water or rest and with broken tails and bones, dislocated necks, chilly-peppered eyes and horn-gouged body parts.

In 1998, a total of 11 lakh head of cattle "migrate" thus to Kerala every year. The figure could be higher today. Only 4.16 lakh head of cattle pass through government check posts, the rest are smuggled in. Eventually, all of them end up in slaughterhouses lining the State's towns and villages. There are 774 authorized abattoirs and, according to government officials, over three times that number of unauthorized meat stalls.

Kerala is one of the few States (including West Bengal) where the slaughtering of cattle is not prohibited. Nearly 4.83 lakh head of ‘white’ cattle (excluding buffaloes) are slaughtered legally in the State, producing 24,278 tonnes of beef every year. Three times the number are actually killed every year, the rest in the unauthorised sector, the total beef production thus being 72,834 tonnes.

Kerala's beef is not its own. Cattle from local homestead farms account for only a very small percentage of the total beef produced in the State. Of the 4.83 lakh head of ‘white’ cattle slaughtered in the authorized centers, 4.16 lakh are cattle imported from neighbouring States. Such legal trade is a mere one-third of the total beef business in Kerala and there are no reliable statistics on the unauthorized trade.

Having read this, you would have got an idea, of what Cattle Class travel in Kerala means, for the Holy Cows.

Tell us Minister; any solidarity with the real holy cows making real cattle class travels towards your real Kerala? Or is it that you fear losing your holy followers on twitter class websites?

(Rahul)