Buffaloes and Racism

Via Smoke Signals, I come across this stunning WTF quote from Kancha lliah:

Indians drink buffalo milk but worship the white cow. They do not worship the buffalo because its black.

Apparently, Iliah said these words on CNN-IBN in the context of the Harbhajan affair. He has also written a book named Buffalo Nationalism, in which he elaborates:

Why did the cow but not the buffalo become a Hindu spiritual animal? The reason is simple: the buffalo is a black animal. Just as the Dravidians, a black people, were never granted any spiritual status, the buffalo as a black animal was allowed none.

Lest you think Iliah’s buffalo analysis pertains only to Indians, Iliah adds:

The Western world failed to domesticate buffaloes. American settlers killed thousands in their bid to wipe out the indigenous peoples of the continent, and because they feared and hated the black buffalo just as they feared, hated and despised the black man.

Iliah might well have added that their immense consumption of Coke and Pepsi is a form of racial imperialism. Oops—I hope I didn’t give him any ideas there.

PS: I hope Iliah never comes across my cow posts.