Vegetarian Nationalism: The Myth of Moral Higher Ground

At a Vishnu Temple in Mannargudi, Morobhatlu, a Brahmin, arrives with his student for a festival. Things take a surprising turn when he’s captivated by a woman he sees there, who happens to be a Dalit. His shocked student tries to warn him, reminding him about his respect, social status and all the religious texts, which the Brahmin ignores. Eventually, he confesses his love to the woman, who turns him down, and the woman herself reminds him of the strict caste rules, but he doesn't seem to care. The woman, in turn, says, “We eat beef, we drink liquor…. Don’t talk to me.”  “We drink cow’s milk,” he replies, “but you eat the whole cow. You must be more pure,” he exclaims.

Surprisingly, this is an excerpt from a Telugu parody titled Sati Dana Suramu (Take My Wife), written by Shahuji I of Tanjavur, the nephew of the celebrated Maratha Emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji. Shahuji also claimed that this work would last longer than the sun, the moon, and the stars. 

With the rise of Hindutva, after the BJP came to power in 2014, various states across India have banned beef, since the cow is considered sacred in Brahminical Hinduism. It has also given rise to cow vigilantism, where Gau Rakshaks take up arms in the guise of cow protection, where more human lives might have been taken than the number of cows saved, especially against Muslims, Christians and Dalits, even on mere suspicion of eating beef.

Subsequently, it began to subtly apply to all kinds of non-vegetarian food, with meat being banned in many cities in states ruled by the BJP or its coalition, especially during Hindu festivals like Navaratri, within the limits of sacred Hindu sites, and so on, even during this Independence Day. Although most Hindus eat meat, the BJP, which is mostly dominated by the vegetarian Brahmin and Baniya community, has been promoting vegetarianism as part of its Hindu nationalist agenda.

The increase in factory-based meat production, cruelty against animals and environmental concerns gave birth to the vegan movement. However, vegetarianism in India differs from veganism. Neither was it born out of ethical or moral considerations, but rather out of caste hierarchy and islamophobia. While in developed countries, it’s the left who are at the forefront of vegan activism, in India, it’s the right wing that pushes for a vegetarian nationalism.

During PM Modi’s foreign visits, it is evident that there is no sign of non-vegetarian food when he is around. In 2016, during his visit to Saudi Arabia, the External Affairs Spokeperson, Vikas Swarup, tweeted, “Star chef @SanjeevKapoor was flown in by UAE hosts for a special vegetarian menu in honour of PM @narendramodi”. In the same year, during his visit to Mexico, when incumbent President Enrique Nieto drove him to a local restaurant for a Mexican dinner, Swarup tweeted, “Bonding over bean tacos! President @EPN and PM@narendramodi share a meal”, along with the photo of the two leaders chatting while sitting at a table in the restaurant. In both tweets, he ensured that the vegetarian menu was being highlighted, making sure to assert the stereotype that India is predominantly a vegetarian country. 

During his election campaign in 2024, PM Modi attacked the opposition leaders, not for scams, not for their disloyalty to the nation, but for eating non-veg food on a month sacred to Hindus.

In 2023, a row erupted when a Tamil film quoted a verse from the Ramayana that involves meat consumption. Eventually, Netflix was forced to take down the film, and the producers had to issue an apology following anger from fundamentalists. In 2020, the National Museum organised Historical Gastronomica, which showcased dishes and the history behind them from the Indus Valley Civilisation, including non-vegetarian food. However, in a last-minute decision, the meat dishes were allegedly barred due to sentimental reasons. 

This vegetarian nationalist campaign has crippled Muslims economically, particularly those who are into butchering, especially in states like Haryana. On every Tuesday and auspicious days for Hindus, meat shops should be closed; otherwise, authorities would forcefully shut down the shops and take away keys, and could even result in a fine or cancellation of license, leading to a loss of almost half of their monthly income. Ironically, as of 2025, India has not only become the second-largest beef exporter, but these exporting companies have also donated crores of rupees to Hindutva parties through electoral bonds.

Last year, on the eve of Eid al-Bakrid, Jains in Delhi dressed up as Muslims to buy goats, saving them from the Bakrid sacrifice. They did this by collecting lakhs of rupees. In a country where most people consume meat, the debate on vegetarianism and cruelty against animals often intensifies during Muslim festivals, and with this rescue mission, the Jains in Delhi found themselves in the centre of attention and praise, becoming an online sensation, and some even boasted about the virtues of their religion. Beneath the surface, it also carried an undertone of anti-Muslim dog whistling, portraying Muslims as violent, while presenting their own religion as righteous and compassionate, subtly aligning with the larger Hindutva project.

There is also a growing sentiment that vegetarianism is a symbol of moral superiority, where we can find a significant number of social media posts, especially from right-wing handles that boast about the ethical stance of being a vegetarian. The most common kind of such post we come across is a picture of a plate with vegetarian food on it, with the caption like, ‘My plate is free of guilt and pain. Let us explore how much guilt, tears, and pain-free vegetarianism are in India.

During the Vedic Age, it was very common for Hindus (Brahmins) to consume meat, including cow, ox, venison and horse. There is an overwhelming number of references to meat consumption and animal sacrifice in the Rig Veda as a religiously sanctioned practice. We can also find references that forbid cow sacrifice, which, according to the experts, highlights the economic significance of cows rather than as a religious entity, or this verse could have been added later. With the society’s shift from pastoral to agrarian in the later Vedic Age, the economic role of cattle underwent significant changes. The discovery of iron made it easier to clear forests at a faster pace, making way for agricultural lands. This shift often came into conflict with the orthodox sections of society, who continued sacrificing cows to the extent that they almost went extinct. 

It was during this time that Jainism and Buddhism were gaining popularity, and they began preaching vegetarianism as the most ethical and spiritual way of living. The Brahmins, who had a significant stake in agriculture, began rallying behind these new religious movements to protect their cattle. The invention of new iron tools facilitated the surplus production of plant-based food, resulting in a natural reduction in reliance on meat. Those who owned more land were able to produce more of these commodities, thereby advancing up the social hierarchy by becoming wealthier. As agriculture grew, so did Brahminism. The caste system began to become rigid, and Brahmins claimed a monopoly over religious knowledge and ritual power, codifying strict rules in texts like the Dharmashastra and Manusmriti, thereby declaring themselves the upper caste by divine right. Subsequently, they also started enforcing purity rules, which helped them maintain social distance from those who were deemed untouchable. Therefore, everything associated with the Brahmins, including their lifestyle, rituals, and diet, came to be perceived as morally, ethically, and ritually superior. 

Those who couldn't afford land continued eating beef and were associated with leather work, carcass disposal, and cattle slaughter, became socially stigmatised and hence got pushed to the bottom of the hierarchy. 

While Buddhism and Jainism preached vegetarianism as a matter of animal welfare and nonviolence, Brahminism preached it as a symbol of ritual purity, which has since then associated meat consumption with savagery and uncivilised behaviour, laying the foundation of untouchability and other forms of segregation. Today, vegetarianism is mostly limited to the privileged upper caste Hindus and Jain communities, often in a way that generates disgust towards non-vegetarian food and people, even calling for social distancing. A clash even broke out in Mumbai’s housing apartment in April this year between Gujaratis and Marathis, when the former called the latter ‘dirty’ for eating fish. 

Today, food choices in India are not just a matter of dietary preferences, but also a marker of social hierarchies, where a vegetarian is most likely an upper-caste. This applies not just to rural areas, but also in urban centres, especially in the North-Western states like Gujarat and Rajasthan, where food preferences shape neighbourhoods. 

According to a recent report by the Indian Express, a potential buyer, while visiting a residential building in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, was given a form by an agent that required her to fill in details, including caste and religion. When she expressed scepticism about needing to fill in such information, the agent replied, “Ma’am, we don’t have a problem, but the neighbours ask, and they could have an issue later. When the agent realised that he was not going to get an appropriate answer, the conversation headed to, 'What’s your surname?' And do you eat non-vegetarian food? Dietary habits reveal a great deal about one's social background and religious affiliation. Eventually, the booking did not go through due to obvious reasons. 

This is not an isolated incident. Many people had similar experiences when renting a house required meeting the landlords' and neighbours' criteria of caste and dietary choices to be accepted. With this chilling implication, one’s identity, rather than character, determines who can live where. Even when they finally get an accommodation, they’re not allowed to cook non-vegetarian food as their neighbours don’t like the smell of it. This is the case of almost every city in the state, requiring people to travel to faraway places that allow non-veg food

Although such cases are common in Gujarat, one would be surprised to know that Bangalore is no exception. According to a study conducted by NestAway, a real estate aggregator website, various forms of discrimination and biases are faced by people across Indian cities while hunting for rental accommodation. 44% of the 3,000 respondents in the survey were from Bangalore, who stated that food preferences are one of the biggest problems faced by the cosmopolitan city's workforce when looking for a house. Bangalore tops the chart with 19% of them admitting to having failed to get an accommodation because they were non-vegetarians. According to a respondent, non-vegetarian food, especially in South Bangalore, which is regarded as the most educated constituency in India, is a strict no, as many owners were very adamant and refused to rent out their houses. Sociologists have theorised that urbanisation could end the caste system, but such housing apartheid is thriving in cities across India.

Most underprivileged Indians, such as the Dalits and Adivasis, who are non-vegetarians, make up the majority of India’s most malnourished, whose stunting growth is more than that of Sub-Saharan Africa. To serve approximately 120 million undernourished children in India, the government introduced the mid-day meal program in government schools, where eggs will be served as a cheap and easy source of protein, benefiting beneficiaries who are often from the tribal or Dalit population, which typically does not adhere to a vegetarian diet. The introduction of eggs has not only improved nutrition but also increased student attendance. However, at present, only 16 states offer eggs on the menu, with all other states being governed either by the BJP or its coalition. 

In 2015, when more than half of Madhya Pradesh’s children were underweight and malnourished, the BJP Chief Minister of the state, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who himself is a strict vegetarian, said, "As long as I am the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, eggs will not be introduced. The human body is meant to consume vegetarian food, which has everything the human body requires." BJP parliamentarian and animal welfare activist Maneka Gandhi supported Chauhan’s statement, claiming that the benefits of eggs were exaggerated. Nutritionalists and activists criticised the move, as the government is trying to spread and deepen Hinduism’s influence by appeasing vegetarians at the cost of children’s health. 

Maharashtra is one of the recent states to discontinue funding eggs in the mid-day meals program, which it did earlier this year. Although the decision is ostensibly a financial one, it followed a backlash received from the Maharashtra BJP’s spiritual cell after the government decided to serve eggs in schools in 2023. In an angry letter to Chief Minister Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, the spiritual cell chiefs, Acharya Tushar Bhosale and Akshay Bhosale, expressed that the decision has hurt the religious sentiments of various sects and castes such as Brahmins, Jains, Varkaris and Mahanubhavs. They highlighted the possibility that a child from a pure vegetarian family might unknowingly eat eggs, which will damage their family traditions. 

These ideals have also become a key element in what many view as PR gimmicks, most recently exemplified by Aanat Ambani, who, while on his spiritual walk, stopped a truck full of chicken, rescuing them from slaughter, which was highly publicised by the media, helping him gain a public image as a man of devotion, simplicity and empathy. However, on the other hand, he also faced scepticism, facing accusations of contradictory compassion, as he was spotted wearing an alligator leather jacket costing €40,000 (over ₹35 lakh) at his own wedding. The opening of Vantara, the world’s most unique, luxurious facility for wild animals, in Gujarat’s Jamnagar, which the Prime Minister himself inaugurated, helped the scion of one of India’s richest corporations enhance his public image as the media sang ballads of his love for animals. Behind all this, India is losing significant parts of its forests to corporate mining interests at an alarming rate. 

Another such example was Sudha Murthy, the author, philanthropist and wife of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, who sparked a row when she said that she carries her own utensils while travelling, as the spoon she’s served might have touched non-veg food and would worry her being a pure vegetarian. The internet got divided, with some trolling her for being a casteist, while others defended her for her right to choose. 

In June 2020, the news of an elephant in Kerala that died after eating a fruit stuffed with a firecracker was quickly politicised, sending shock waves across India. Kerala, being a state ruled by the communist government and one of the states where beef is popular, has always been on the radar of the mainstream media and the Modi government whenever there is a tragedy or crisis. Since then, the media and the government have run a massive smear campaign against the state. Although it was unclear then whether someone deliberately fed the elephant explosives, Maneka Gandhi stirred controversy after claiming that the incident happened in the Malappuram district, which is a Muslim majority region, even though it happened in the Palakkad district. She even claimed that it is the most violent district and such events are very common here, sparking a communal social media campaign, blaming the plight of the elephant on leftists and Islamists, reflecting how animal love is often deployed to stigmatise Muslims and political opponents. 

There’s an old video of a Bollywood star in which he's seen eating beef and discussing his love for it with the interviewer. In 2015, when the Maharashtra government banned beef, many Bollywood celebrities, including Ayushmann Khurrana, Farhan Akhtar, and Anushka Sharma, slammed the move, citing human rights violations and communal politics. Would anyone today dare to make such a statement?

Such a kind of fanaticism not only ignores the malnutrition, but also the widespread protein deficiency, even amongst vegetarians, contributing to the country’s decline in the Global Hunger Index, making the myth of purity or moral higher ground not only false, but also dangerous.

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