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The Diplomat: Beef, Biryani, and Indian Politics


India’s “cow politics” reveal schisms among religious and caste groups...While India’s Hindu majority venerate the cow as the embodiment of ahimsa, or nonviolence, the animal is slowly coming to symbolize the nation’s discord. Clashes over the cow’s national status are entrenching religious and caste divides while testing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resolve in pandering to identity politics. And now with key state assembly elections approaching next year, India’s “cow politics” are intensifying.

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