08-01-2007, 01:32 AM
<span style='color:red'>Goodbye, Shambo</span>
Kanchan Gupta
http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp...&writer=kanchan
The e-mail I had arrived some days ago but I had not bothered to read it, thinking it was yet another e-flier from the Hindu Council of Britain inviting me to an event in London and looking forward to my presence. Not that there's anything wrong with such gatherings; it's just the Delhi-London-Delhi airfare is killing. Some days later, while clearing out my mailbox, I casually clicked on the e-mail and was soon riveted by its contents. It was about a Friesen bull called Shambo at Skanda Vale Temple in Wales, who had tested positive after a dubious bovine tuberculosis test conducted by officials of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the scourge of Welsh farmers. Shambo (obviously a corruption of Shambhu) had been sentenced to death to prevent him from passing on the infection to others of his tribe. But the monks and nuns of the 'Community of Many Names of God in His Universality', which looks after the temple complex, had contested DEFRA's claim and decided to fight for the sacred bull's life. The e-mail solicited support for this noble mission.
This was in end-April and I forwarded the mail to our correspondent in London, Nandini Jawli, who picked up what later came to be known as the 'Shambo story'. The Pioneer was the first to report Shambo's plight; later, as the story gathered speed, European and American media (Fox and CNN sent crews all the way to Skanda Vale) picked it up, although little or no interest was shown by our 24x7 news channels and 'national' newspapers for whom, perhaps, the sanctity of a temple bull's life is as funny as an SMS joke. The Spectator, which remains aloof from what are described as 'maudlin stories', carried a three-page feature on Shambo and his keepers. Between then and Thursday night, it was a see-saw battle to save Shambo as the monks brought in an internationally reputed vet to conduct a second test and proclaim him perfectly healthy, petitioned the Welsh Assembly and secured a temporary reprieve, went to court and got a favourable order, and then lost the case in a court of appeal. All the while, Shambo was kept in a special, sanitised enclosure within the temple precincts under the watchful eyes of the monks who chanted the Maha Mrityunjay mantra and other life-sustaining prayers to save the bull from his executioners.
Shambo was to have been transported to DEFRA's death chamber on Thursday morning. But the Skanda Vale Temple community and Shambo's supporters formed a protective human shield, forcing officials to call in the police. That didn't work either. Reinforcements were called in and finally the monks, nuns and protesters were forcibly removed, the human shield was breached, Shambo was dragged out of his enclosure and pushed on to the trailer that carried him to his executioner. Late Thursday night, he was put down with a lethal injection. The Welsh Assembly authorities have let it be known that they are now sharpening their knives for the rest of the temple herd - comprising cows, bulls and buffaloes, among them 15-year-old arthritic Mooki who needs constant ministering which the monks happily provide, and Shambo's mother, Shivani, who had been branded for the slaughterhouse but was rescued, while four months pregnant, by the Skanda Vale Temple community eight years ago.
In death, Shambo has highlighted two points that merit elaboration.
<b>First, the amazingly meek and timid response of Britain's seven-and-a-half lakh strong Hindu community</b> which, apart from forwarding appeals put out by the monks of Skanda Vale Temple, did precious little to save the sacred bull. It would be considered politically incorrect by sophisticates and the commentariat here and abroad if I were to quote scriptural text or cite faith tradition to argue why Hindus in Britain should have risen, to the last man, woman and child, in support of Shambo. However, it would be instructive for those who slept while Shambo was slaughtered on Thursday night to recall what Mahatma Gandhi had to say about Hindus' reverence for the cow and its progeny: "If someone were to ask me what the most important outward manifestation of Hinduism was, I would suggest it was the idea of the cow." Hindus in Britain allowed that idea to be butchered along with Shambo on Thursday night.
Of course, we cannot entirely ignore the possibility that Shambo may have been infected by bovine TB and was thus a danger to cattle in the temple complex as well as in adjoining areas. Ever since the outbreak of 'mad cow' disease, which dampened the demand for British beef, officials obsessed with trade and commercial exploitation of cattle as a source of meat refuse to take any chances - better to kill a few than lose an entire lot. But Shambo was not part of what is referred to as the 'food chain' of Britain. He was leading a cloistered life similar to that of his keepers. Moreover, there are rules that provide for an exemption to culling as a means of disease control. Those rules could have been invoked to spare Shambo his life.
The second point pertains to the indifference among Hindus in India to Shambo's sorrowful death. That's not surprising, given how Hindus treat the cow and its progeny in the land of Krishna. Most nights as I drive home from Congress-ruled, Hindu majority Delhi to BSP-ruled, Hindu majority Uttar Pradesh, I see cattle being marched to slaughterhouses. The Constitution calls for a ban on the slaughter of cow and its progeny, but that has not been implemented because it is merely a 'Directive Principle of State Policy' - a state that has few principles to boast of, can't be expected to follow moral directives. Barring West Bengal and Kerala, cow slaughter is legally banned in the other States, yet that has not stopped India from emerging as "a major producer and consumer of beef and leather". Along with bulls, cows that don't give milk any more and calves that are unwanted are <b>illegally transported and butchered in connivance with corrupt Hindu officials in abattoirs often owned by Hindus. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, India butchered 14.5 million cattle in 2003, making it the world's fourth most active cattle killer. Mind you, the BJP was in power those days.</b>
Not that we treat cows and bulls who are spared the journey to slaughterhouses any better. Look at stray cattle feeding on urban waste in garbage dumps, foraging for food in piles of plastic bags, and you will know how we are as bereft of values as those who killed Shambo.
Kanchan Gupta
http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp...&writer=kanchan
The e-mail I had arrived some days ago but I had not bothered to read it, thinking it was yet another e-flier from the Hindu Council of Britain inviting me to an event in London and looking forward to my presence. Not that there's anything wrong with such gatherings; it's just the Delhi-London-Delhi airfare is killing. Some days later, while clearing out my mailbox, I casually clicked on the e-mail and was soon riveted by its contents. It was about a Friesen bull called Shambo at Skanda Vale Temple in Wales, who had tested positive after a dubious bovine tuberculosis test conducted by officials of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the scourge of Welsh farmers. Shambo (obviously a corruption of Shambhu) had been sentenced to death to prevent him from passing on the infection to others of his tribe. But the monks and nuns of the 'Community of Many Names of God in His Universality', which looks after the temple complex, had contested DEFRA's claim and decided to fight for the sacred bull's life. The e-mail solicited support for this noble mission.
This was in end-April and I forwarded the mail to our correspondent in London, Nandini Jawli, who picked up what later came to be known as the 'Shambo story'. The Pioneer was the first to report Shambo's plight; later, as the story gathered speed, European and American media (Fox and CNN sent crews all the way to Skanda Vale) picked it up, although little or no interest was shown by our 24x7 news channels and 'national' newspapers for whom, perhaps, the sanctity of a temple bull's life is as funny as an SMS joke. The Spectator, which remains aloof from what are described as 'maudlin stories', carried a three-page feature on Shambo and his keepers. Between then and Thursday night, it was a see-saw battle to save Shambo as the monks brought in an internationally reputed vet to conduct a second test and proclaim him perfectly healthy, petitioned the Welsh Assembly and secured a temporary reprieve, went to court and got a favourable order, and then lost the case in a court of appeal. All the while, Shambo was kept in a special, sanitised enclosure within the temple precincts under the watchful eyes of the monks who chanted the Maha Mrityunjay mantra and other life-sustaining prayers to save the bull from his executioners.
Shambo was to have been transported to DEFRA's death chamber on Thursday morning. But the Skanda Vale Temple community and Shambo's supporters formed a protective human shield, forcing officials to call in the police. That didn't work either. Reinforcements were called in and finally the monks, nuns and protesters were forcibly removed, the human shield was breached, Shambo was dragged out of his enclosure and pushed on to the trailer that carried him to his executioner. Late Thursday night, he was put down with a lethal injection. The Welsh Assembly authorities have let it be known that they are now sharpening their knives for the rest of the temple herd - comprising cows, bulls and buffaloes, among them 15-year-old arthritic Mooki who needs constant ministering which the monks happily provide, and Shambo's mother, Shivani, who had been branded for the slaughterhouse but was rescued, while four months pregnant, by the Skanda Vale Temple community eight years ago.
In death, Shambo has highlighted two points that merit elaboration.
<b>First, the amazingly meek and timid response of Britain's seven-and-a-half lakh strong Hindu community</b> which, apart from forwarding appeals put out by the monks of Skanda Vale Temple, did precious little to save the sacred bull. It would be considered politically incorrect by sophisticates and the commentariat here and abroad if I were to quote scriptural text or cite faith tradition to argue why Hindus in Britain should have risen, to the last man, woman and child, in support of Shambo. However, it would be instructive for those who slept while Shambo was slaughtered on Thursday night to recall what Mahatma Gandhi had to say about Hindus' reverence for the cow and its progeny: "If someone were to ask me what the most important outward manifestation of Hinduism was, I would suggest it was the idea of the cow." Hindus in Britain allowed that idea to be butchered along with Shambo on Thursday night.
Of course, we cannot entirely ignore the possibility that Shambo may have been infected by bovine TB and was thus a danger to cattle in the temple complex as well as in adjoining areas. Ever since the outbreak of 'mad cow' disease, which dampened the demand for British beef, officials obsessed with trade and commercial exploitation of cattle as a source of meat refuse to take any chances - better to kill a few than lose an entire lot. But Shambo was not part of what is referred to as the 'food chain' of Britain. He was leading a cloistered life similar to that of his keepers. Moreover, there are rules that provide for an exemption to culling as a means of disease control. Those rules could have been invoked to spare Shambo his life.
The second point pertains to the indifference among Hindus in India to Shambo's sorrowful death. That's not surprising, given how Hindus treat the cow and its progeny in the land of Krishna. Most nights as I drive home from Congress-ruled, Hindu majority Delhi to BSP-ruled, Hindu majority Uttar Pradesh, I see cattle being marched to slaughterhouses. The Constitution calls for a ban on the slaughter of cow and its progeny, but that has not been implemented because it is merely a 'Directive Principle of State Policy' - a state that has few principles to boast of, can't be expected to follow moral directives. Barring West Bengal and Kerala, cow slaughter is legally banned in the other States, yet that has not stopped India from emerging as "a major producer and consumer of beef and leather". Along with bulls, cows that don't give milk any more and calves that are unwanted are <b>illegally transported and butchered in connivance with corrupt Hindu officials in abattoirs often owned by Hindus. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, India butchered 14.5 million cattle in 2003, making it the world's fourth most active cattle killer. Mind you, the BJP was in power those days.</b>
Not that we treat cows and bulls who are spared the journey to slaughterhouses any better. Look at stray cattle feeding on urban waste in garbage dumps, foraging for food in piles of plastic bags, and you will know how we are as bereft of values as those who killed Shambo.