The semantics of beef politics has changed. Although, everyone knows that all beef is not cow meat, we seem to be forced to forget the difference. Suddenly political discourse has homogenised the notion of beef and reduced it to mean cow meat. There is squeezing and downsizing of the broad meaning of beef. It has resulted in narrowing its sense and has come to mean cow meat. This hollowing of the meaning of beef appears to be deliberately designed. Goa is also not insulated from the Hindutva hot heads that blow their top over sensitive dietary practices of our people. Although, cow slaughter is banned in Goa from 1978, the rise of high voltage demand on beef ban in Goa has to be viewed not as spontaneous but is marked by corrosive intent to polarise our society. Thanks to several political leaders and their political outfits, these divisive high decimal voices have been effectively silenced for now. But this does not mean that these nefarious tongues will stay tight lipped over their despicable agenda. The oversimplification of broader notion of beef has to be interrogated and we need to open it to its inclusive meanings which embrace all other bovine meats. This widening of the meaning can shatter the symbolism that is constructed by Hindutva forces to exploit the religious sentiments of a large section of our people.
The subtraction of meaning content of beef is laud and can be discerned clearly from the narrative of cow vigilante groups. It also consciously produces different effect on both sides of the boundary of polarisation. One side may see them as protectors of their religious sentiments and a way of affirmation of one’s culture while the other side feels it as an aggressive invasion into profoundly personal liberties. We may have to indulge into a border crossing thought that would enable us to view it from both the sides of the border. This border crossing thought can open the crypt (something hidden that hides its act of hiding) that enables the beef politics to speak with double voice. Indeed, it has one message for the majority community whom it claims to protect and another for its victims. Hence, the narrative of beef politics is heard in two ways. Perhaps, in some way it enjoys a silent approval by the majority community while on the other hand it is greeted with anguish and disapproval by the minorities. May be this is the goal of the politics that it serves. It successfully develops cracks of division in the community and polarises it to serve its vote bank.
The double-speak of the discourse of beef politics that afflicts us in Goa as well as other parts of our country has to be heard with critical attention. Perhaps, we need to study the politics that subtract the meaning content of terms like beef and hides its act of subtraction. Some scholars call it a technique of designification. Signification involves a process of attaching and adding meaning or connotation, while designification involves an opposite process of removal and subtraction of meaning content. It does not just subtract the meaning content but also hides this act of subtraction. This act of subtraction as well as its hidden existence from the general public is clearly visible in the beef politics that is being played out in our society. Having seen the hiding place of the politics of beef, we may be enabled to see and respond to the dangerous divisive power game that is played out by these forces against us. The withdrawal of meaning (designification) produces resignification of meaning. There is production of meaning content that speaks differently to different audiences. This is why the double-speak of beef discourse is powerful and produces results desired by the right wing forces.
Maybe a short detour into psychoanalysis will assist us to understand the dynamics of the politics of beef and several other such strategies of right wing. We have a great blessing of semantic enlightenment that Psychoanalysis has introduced into language. This requires viewing the subtraction of the meaning content as a kind of displacement of meaning. In other words, the meaning content is not simply subtracted/ removed but is sent on an exile. Thus, in our case broader meaning of beef is diluted and abstracted but is not fully abolished but is kept under erasure or suspended animation. This means it remains open to be accessed by us when needed. But the fact that discourse of beef comes along with violence, hate and fear, it cripples its victims whose imagination and thinking capacity is constricted and crippled. Hence, they exhibit little or no ability to read it against the grain. The same maybe true of the majority which may get fascinated by a feeling that somehow a golden era is being ushered in by the said forces in favour of them. Hence, the guise of the disguise in the script of beef politics remains to be explored in several directions, letting it to become productive for those who desire to divide and rule us.
Thanks to several Goans, particularly from the Hindu community, we have been successfully able to plug the divisive intent of the beef narrative for now. The fact that the right wing keeps repeating the same narrative time and again, we have to remain alert and responsive. The uniqueness of Goa and Goans cannot be lost. We cannot lose what we all fought fifty years back during the opinion poll. The degoanizing power of beef brigade has been rightly understood by several among us. But we will have to stand united and resist these forces that try to destroy our uniqueness in the name of fake and monoformic cultural nationalism with a mix of Hinduism. This dangerous cocktail is hazardous for Goa and can destroy our unique identity. Therefore, we have to continue to resist it with everything within our power. This means we have to rise beyond our petty concerns of caste, religion, script-divide, political preferences and stand up for Goy, Goykar and Goykarponn. Against those promoting hate and division, we will have to build a synergy of unity that is bound by the glue of Goykarponn which remains open to everything that will promote the true well being of humanity everywhere. Happy for now, we Goans are beefed up (united and strong) against beef politics. The challenge is to continue to stay beefed up to win the war against the beef brigade.
(The author is Professor of Rachol Seminary)
