Dwijendra Narayan Jha was a former professor of history at the University of Delhi. He was also a National Lecturer in History and General President, Indian History Congress.
<p>THE HISTORIAN Dwijendra Narayan Jha shows us how the ‘holiness’ of the cow is a myth, and how its flesh was an important part of the cuisine of ancient India. The earliest evidence for beef-eating comes from the oldest Indian texts—the Vedas and their auxiliaries. Citing Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina scriptures, Jha underlines that beef-eating was not Islam’s ‘baneful bequeathal’ to India. Nor can abstention from it be a mark of ‘Hindu’ identity like Hindutva enforcers argue.</p><div><br></div>
