Let me begin
with a disclaimer that the intent of this article is to ignite introspections
and thought processes towards further betterment, and is certainly not an
attempt to undermine anyone's sincere efforts in the same direction.
The latest trending thing is Shashi Tharoor’s speech onBritain Does Owe Reparations While many people praise his speech, some also
feel that his last few words (the 1 pound per year part) took away the
seriousness of the matter. Nevertheless, Tharoor reminded everyone that past crimes
cannot be easily forgotten and it is important to acknowledge, own up the
responsibility.
Now, this speech might not be directly related to
veganism, however I have always been thinking about this aspect in vegan
context as well. How many of us vegans consciously try to pay for our crimes committed
by us when we were still not vegans, and what about the crimes that we are
continuing to commit even today for our conveniences and comforts, although in
much smaller scale when compared to non-vegans around us?
To me, veganism is a journey with no clear starting
point or end point. Conforming to the technical definition of veganism is just one
step among many in this awakening path. Anyone who realizes that veganism is
the right thing to do and starts on this path is indeed miles ahead than most
others around, however this level of consciousness also makes one scrutinize
own actions in the past as well as present. And when we do that, certain things
from our past and present do make us uncomfortable. The next question is, how we
deal with that.
Personally, few incidents from my past haunt me
even today. Once when I was a kid, we had abandoned a cat because she had some
skin disease and she was annoying us by sleeping on our sofa and bed. We tried
a lot to keep her at some distance, but she was trying to come too close, and
instead of extending unconditional help and love, we took her to a far off
place and abandoned her in a different neighbourhood. Another incident makes me
even more ashamed. I guess I was 18 or 19, I had just started driving. I had
accidentally hit a cow and even though I felt sorry, I succumbed to the wishful
thinking when I saw her getting up and walking away. Without getting down and
seeing her real condition, whether she needed any treatment etc. I chose to
think that she was fine and worried more about the damage to the car, possible
scolding/embarrassment, conflicts with other people around who sometimes try to
take advantage of such situation (by extorting money, claiming ownership of the
cow) etc. These two examples stand out clearly, but I am sure there are other
smaller crimes that I have committed in the past, knowingly or unknowingly.
What about “crime through consumption”? Personally,
I never ate meat. So, I don’t know how guilty one might feel if he/she had
eaten a dead animal/bird in the past, or if he/she had killed with own hands
for that purpose. But I do feel sorry that I enjoyed dairy products until I was
20 years old and also eggs during some of my school years. During my visits to
relatives’ place who owned dairy farms, I clearly remember feeling sorry
looking at animals that were tied in the barn. But I feel guilty of not
“feeling enough” at that time. While those poor things were enslaved, violated
and denied their rights, I was happily enjoying the dairy products. Does it not
call for any reparation? I feel it does.
And even today I am guilty of leading a life that
has significantly high ecological and cruelty footprint compared to what it
could really be, if I make tougher choices. Being a vegan definitely reduces my
footprint than most others around, but I feel there is still a long way to go. Whether
it is shining fruits & vegetables that are easily available in the market,
wide paved roads or footpath, concrete buildings, street lights, continuous
supply of electricity and water, timely transport systems, waste management
systems - people living in urban areas definitely enjoy more comforts and
conveniences of modern world when compared to people in rural areas, and most
of these amenities are not based on fundamental principles of sustainable and
cruelty free lifestyle. Still, it is not easy to give up on many of these, and
perhaps there will be many which I might never give up in this lifetime, but
that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel guilty about them. So, what is the best way
to own up responsibility in this context?
In India, elders say genuine “Prayashchita” will wash away the sins, and they also say that “Pashchathapa” or “genuinely repenting”
is the best Prayashchita. Perhaps
this reflected in Tharoor’s last words as well when he said genuine sorry is
enough and that is all what we really seek from Britain. However, I don’t
necessarily agree with that. To me, if someone is genuinely sorry, then they
will also work towards reparation, within their limitations. If someone is in a
comfortable position to undo at least some part of the damage done, and if they
instead just walk away saying sorry, then that sorry is not genuine, it is as
simple as that.
I talked about 2 things:
1. Past
crimes: If a person is now awake and has embraced veganism, then it clearly
means that most of the past crimes are not going to be repeated. But it also
means acknowledgement of those past crimes. Since they are not recurring, quantifying
and setting targets for reparation is relatively easier in this case. I
personally feel that every vegan should own up to the extent of crimes that
they have committed in the past. For e.g. a frequent meat eater definitely has
lot more to do as part of reparation when compared to an occasional meat eater.
There is no definite framework to calculate any of this and there is definitely
no law that will force you to do all this, but I would think a conscious vegan
who genuinely repents on past crimes committed by him/her, will definitely
realize one day or the other that, just conforming to the technical definition
of veganism is just one of the many steps in the right direction. No longer
committing the crimes is indeed good and such determination is commendable, but
reparation is also equally important.
What could be done as part of reparation is the
next question. I feel the best reparation is to spread veganism, because you might
have awaken but many others haven’t, and those crimes are still happening, all
around. So, we need to spend our time, effort, money on spreading veganism.
That’s the best reparation for our past crimes.
2. Ongoing
crimes: As I mentioned above, in case of vegans, the extent is much less,
but it is still there. While others might not recognize their ongoing crimes of
higher degrees, vegans generally get more and more conscious about their smallest
of crimes as well. This is tricky to deal with. At one hand, we could say that,
‘trying our best and committing lesser crimes than what others do’ itself is a
great achievement. On the other hand, we could still quantify our crimes in our
own way and pay for those crimes, again by spending time, effort and money to
spread veganism. A small caution: such ongoing reparation should not be
considered as “buying sins” and reduce our urge to further reduce our ongoing
crimes, even if it already small.
Lastly, I once again reiterate that the intent of
this article is not to criticize vegans who are genuinely trying their best and
evolving in the right path and spreading veganism to whatever extent possible
by them. The intent is to put seeds of introspection so that we question
ourselves – Am I doing enough? Can I do more? If our freedom fighters had not
driven themselves forward with such constant introspection, India would still
be under someone else’s rule. Similarly, vegans also need to constantly push
themselves and explore uncomfortable territories, in order to take forward the freedom
fight movement for animals.
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