Holier-Than-Thou 'Vegans' And Vegetarians

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 29 September 2023 “The biggest cheat in India today is ISKCON. They establish gaushalas for which they get unlimited benefits from the government to run them. They get huge land...everything. I just visited their Anantput Gaushala. Not a single dry cow (one that has not been milked) is present. All are dairies. There is not a single calf. It means all of them were sold. ISCKON is selling all its cows to the butcher.` Maneka Gandhi I'm neither a Krishna Bhakt, nor am I a supporter of the dubious 'spiritual' organization known as ISKCON. But I feel that Maneka's allegation is unfounded. She's a rabid animal rights activist and calls herself a vegan, a fashionably obscure term of recent origin, used for a person who avoids consuming all types of meat as well as using all animal products. These quixotic people don't even drink milk and its products like cheese, butter, ice cream etc. Instead, they use almond milk as a replacement of animal milk. Such hypocrites are an outright nuisance to society. They suffer from acute dietary snobbery and often treat non-vegetarians quite disparagingly. Agreed, it's good to fight for animal rights and spread the awareness among the people that eating meat is not good for health and it's also unethical as you're indirectly involved in killing a helpless animal for your palate. But condemning those who relish non-veg is also unfair and unjust. Humans have this undesirable habit of stretching everything a trifle too much and a tad too long. They tend to cast aspersions on those whose ways are different. This is called cultural relativism and in this context, this is dietary relativism. When nearly 78 percent (some reports suggest 82 percent) people in India are non-vegetarians (including those who eat 'only' eggs; this is a sub-species of non-veg!) and are in no mood to give it up anytime soon, it's advisable for the vegans and vegetarians to keep mum and mind their own business. Don't be preachy and pontificating while eulogising the exaggerated benefits of vegetarianism. Let people eat what they want to. Yours truly doesn't even touch eggs but writes about various egg preparations. He has never tried meat in his whole life but he writes on continental meat preparations of mutton, beef, pork and Crustaceans in world's leading culinary magazines like Bon Appetit, Saveur, Wine Spectator, Gastronomica, to name but a few. This holier-than-thou Maneka should concentrate on her work rather than condemn those who love to eat meat. What ISKCON folks do with cows is their outlook. Don't be so bovine-brained and officious. ------ A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/holier-thou-vegans-vegetarians/d/130783 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism