Both Gandhi and Ambedkar were against the ban on beef. And I think their positions against the ban on beef must be used effectively in the growing efforts of the Sangh Parivar to communalise the issue and impose restrictions on the food habits of the marginalised communities in India. However, if you analyse the responses of Gandhi and Ambedkar on the question of ban on beef, you may find some interesting differences. Gandhi spoke as a believer in Hinduism against the ban on beef with a conviction that the habits of other communities like Muslims, Christians, Parsis and other belief systems must also be respected, since the Hindus do not constitute as the only religion in India. And in his articulation, we can find a religious Hindu trying to create space for the habits of Muslims and other religions. There was an underlying notion of `Us’ and `Them’. Perhaps it was not so appropriate even at that time, since a large section of Dalits consumed beef and a big section of Dalits also believed even at time that they were Hindus. The Ambedkar on the other hand questioned the authority of the upper caste politics to impose such a ban. He entered the subject a little bit more deeper in analysing the foundations of such politics of restricting beef. At the same time, it is also interesting that Gandhi had no answer when his orthodox Vaishnava Hindu friend said that he feeds his children with beef soup since ` it is a medicine’.
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