Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a clarion call to entrepreneurs in his Mann Ki Baat address to focus on things indigenous to India, from breeds of dogs to video games. Since then, things made in India and belonging to India have received much attention.
TNM caught up with Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, managing trustee of the Senaapathy Kangayam Cattle Research Foundation, a non-profit organisation working on conservation of native cattle breeds. He is also an organic farmer and a vocal supporter of jallikattu, the traditional bull sport from Tamil Nadu.
What, in your opinion, is the need of the hour for cattle protection in the country?
In India, the cattle variety can be broadly classified into three types. One, is the north Indian cattle which is called the milch animal, which gives you good milk. Second, is the dual purpose animal found in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat which gives you 5-6 litres of milk and also works in the field. In southern India, we have the draft variety (Kangeyam, Bargur, etc) also known as the Mysore type of animals which come from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
After the mechanisation of agriculture, the use of draft animals in livelihood and agriculture got reduced. Basically what needs to be done to conserve breeds like Kangeyam, Amrit Mahal etc. would be to make them convert these animals into dual purpose animals using technology.
Today, we have the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources in Haryana and the National Dairy Research Institute based in Bengaluru. We have embryo transfer technology. Using all these, very easily we can do selective breeding and create all these breeds as milch or dual purpose animals without them losing their draft quality. If that is done, we don't have to import exotic breeds like the Jersey, (Holstein) Friesian, etc.
Breeds of South Asia and Africa are the intellectual property of the people living in those regions. These people have had these breeds for thousands of years. The story is similar with breeds like Jersey and Friesian. These belong to the people living in those regions. But over time, with the advent of the industrialised farming system, companies working in genetics took over the breeds. Today, we have companies like Genus ABS that totally control the semen of the species. So the breeding is not selective.
For example, if you have a cow and four other farmers have bulls, it is your right to determine which bull to pick. That is called selective breeding.
Artificial insemination, contrary to selective breeding, is based totally on milk and meat productivity. Slowly, the breeds start going out of the hands of the farmer or livestock keeper.
In Europe and the West, this practice is already prevalent and in India, it was Prime Minister Modi who started the game and gave five breeds of India to a company called Genus ABS. This was in 2015
The Bovine Breeding Act is being brought across the country and is a killer act. It removes livestock from the farmers. We have been fighting over it and the government of Tamil Nadu has notified the Act, but not implemented it yet. It was notified in 2019.
How is the Bovine Breeding Act detrimental to livestock?
The Act says that all the bulls kept by the farmers should be registered. The data should lie with the government.
Tamil Nadu has one of the finest Animal Husbandry departments in India. Even before states could think of separating agriculture and animal husbandry, Tamil Nadu had done it way back in the 1990s. Tamil Nadu has Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS). The Animal Husbandry department is very visible in most rural areas in Tamil Nadu. All doctors are very competent. Most doctors are like family members to the farmers and livestock keepers. We have such an excellent infrastructure in animal husbandry and veterinary sciences. Therefore, what is the need for a new authority called the Bovine Breeding Authority?
That authority has also been given the right to raid the farmers' places. This is atrocious. Farmers have had livestock for a lot longer than India, which came into being 75 years ago. Livestock-keeping is a culture and this is insulting it. Tamil Nadu has the highest number of breeds in India and when we have such a beautiful agricultural ecosystem, I don't know why they want to destroy this.
Why should they decide who will have the bull and if those livestock must be culled or not? For exotic livestock, which makes up to 75% of Tamil Nadu's cattle population, they can't even have bulls. They can only use the semen sold by private agencies. It is a multi-crore rupees industry.
Women are the biggest beneficiaries of livestock-keeping. By bringing in this Act, the government will deprive women of their livelihood. Second will be the landless, marginal labourers and farmers who just have a few livestock for earning their daily meal.
Are the Centre and states acting adequately on that front?
The government of India, especially under Narendra Modi, has not conducted a single consultation for native livestock or done anything to promote native cattle. They only do all kinds of political stuff using the cow to create religious divides between two communities. They have done nothing on the ground to protect cattle.
The state government, compared with the Centre, is a little better. But after 2016, nothing has been done by the so-called farmer Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami. He has done nothing to protect the cattle. After the jallikattu protests, this has become a selling point and he uses it for that. If he is a farmer, the first thing he should do is call the Animal Husbandry and tell him to repeal the Bovine Breeding Act.
How have bovine laws changed in India in the last 10-15 years? Have they changed for the better or for the worse?
They have changed for the worse because they are trying to corporatise the whole thing. Semen industry in India alone could fetch around Rs 1 lakh crore every year. This is huge potential. More cattle from Europe is coming in. We are also the world's largest exporter of beef.
What is the relationship between jallikattu and cattle conservation? Why was there a need for the 2017 pro-jallikattu protests?
Jallikattu is an event in which bulls are shown as an attractive mate for breeding among the cows owned by farmers. Most farmers in villages cannot afford to own bulls and hence, it was a mechanism by which breeding is promoted in villages, to beget healthy offspring.
This is the direct connecting point between jallikattu and livestock-keeping. This is how jallikattu must be seen and not as an emotional thing. Any livestock that is old is bound to die and will be made into meat and hide, etc.
When we say 'protect the breed' we don't mean to catch one cow and keep it inside an AC room and protect it. We do not mean to do pooja to one group of cows.
Jallikattu protest is seen as an issue between the north and the south. Jallikattu has reference to the Indus Valley Civilisation thousands of years ago. Even recently, excavations in Keezhadi have indicated that link. So Tamils see it as pride and it was lost due to the intervention of people who had no connection to rural livelihoods or the Tamil society and spoke about Tamil culture calling them barbaric. That's what pushed the anger of the youth against such people.
Has anything changed in the conservation of native cattle breeds since the Jallikattu protests?
The government of Tamil Nadu started multiple breeding centres for native breeds like Kangeyam and Bargur after the protests. Many organisations have come up to work on native cattle and a lot of people have moved towards natural farming using native livestock and natural manure. This helps in conserving native cattle.
I would say that nowadays people prefer having food without pesticides and it is good for all of us — producers and consumers. People have started preferring a rural way of life and have started thinking of having a small piece of land to grow vegetables or plant trees.
Do you think India has enough laws to achieve the goal of conserving native breeds of cattle?
Animal husbandry is a state subject and left to the states, they will do well. All that the Centre needs to do is give them enough funds. But unfortunately, this government does not want any federal structure to work. They want to interfere in everything and are working towards having 500 plus districts in the country supervised by Delhi, rather than states.
We don't need more laws. We just need more support for the goal. We need a state-level authority to conserve and scientifically ensure that these breeds are protected. There is no need for Goshalas or anything. The Goshala model of conservation is a failure. The best model of conservation is in-situ conservation. Any breed that originated in one place needs to be conserved in that place. That model of conservation should be supported and unfortunately, it has not been done.
What are your thoughts on the voices around Hindi imposition? You have been vocal about it on social media.
India was never one nation before 1947. India was a subcontinent which had many small units, some ruled by the British monarchy and some by native Indian rulers. All these units came together to form India based on the Constitution.
During the Constitutional debates, when it was proposed to have a national language, there were huge oppositions from Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, etc. They said that there is no need for a national language, but just a link language, which will be English. It was agreed that there will be two official languages, Hindi and English.
So the basic tenets of the Constitution cannot be changed by anybody. This has also been reiterated by the Supreme Court.
While Tamil Nadu contributes a lot in terms of taxes to the Centre, a good share of that is spent on developing and propagating Hindi and Sanskrit. This is done by creating Chairs for these languages in centres across the world. For example, the Harvard Tamil Chair was set up without any help from the Centre. Prominent Tamils, the government of Tamil Nadu and DMK donated money to set it up. What was the contribution of BJP towards it? The same BJP spends crores of rupees to establish Sanskrit Chairs across the world. They can do what they want for Sanskrit, but what have they done for Tamil or Telugu or Malayalam? This is the basic question.
What can a common man do, in his/her capacity, to achieve this conservation goal?
If you are a farmer, you can of course rear native cattle. If you are not a farmer, you can buy products connected to native cattle and the movement. You can support farmers, livestock-keepers and organisations working to conserve native livestock by donating your time, effort and money. You can support them in marketing their products. This will ensure that their lives are better. Farming is not lucrative today and therefore, all kinds of support is needed. You can also support the education of the farmers’ children.