Praying and eating is a two way thing. Dont muslim countries have a rule where public consumption is banned during the month of Ramazan? Are there news of hindus beating for eating in public, i mean an old guy.
Those Muslim states don't claim to be secular republics. Nice of u to lump all the Muslim countries together just so u can make this one point about Muslims having laws according to their own religion. If u were to look at ISLAMIC REPUBLIC of Iran or ISLAMIC REPUBLIC of Pakistan...sure u will find that there would be laws passed heavily favoring Muslims. In case of Pakistan I'm not sure about a law that prohibits ppl from eating in public during Ramadan...it might just be a cultural thing to frown upon it but since I'm not sure I won't argue over that. My point is that these two countries for example never declared to be SECULAR republics...it says right in the name. Pakistan especially was created in the name of Islam so Muslims can freely practice their religion. They are not two faced...what u see is what u get. Now if we look at Republic of Turkey, u'll see that it's not called ISLAMIC Republic of Turkey even though it's a Muslim majority country...and accordingly there's no such law banning u from eating out during Ramadan out of respect for Muslims or anything. In fact u can even order alcoholic beverages...granted that not many restaurants would offer that during Ramadan(during fasting hours) but that's more their decision and not a law. U get the difference yet? So next time when u try comparing an Islamic Republic and cite that they have laws favoring Muslims...do know that India isn't called HINDU REPUBLIC of India...therefore any such analogies would fall flat on their faces.
Also I see u brought up the old guy(Hindu) who was beat up by a mob for eating in public during Ramadan. I remember reading about that in the news. To my knowledge there's no such law in Pakistan, which bans public eating during Ramadan. The mob that beat him up wasn't exactly going by the law. Don't cite a crime and equate it with state law. By that reasoning I can bring up countless examples of lynchings over beef...and using ur reasoning equate it with state law. However I know better than that. I know there's no law in Pakistan that permits beating up old men and there's no law in India permitting lynchings. So if u can stop trolling for a second...let's get back to the law banning beef.
Now Cow is considered an holy animal by majority hindus. Its only fair for social purposes, that its respected. Respecting minorities doesnt mean disrespecting majority. In US the horse meat is banned. Why? Its their culture.
The point I'm making is that it's not the job of a secular state to tell which religious choices its citizens should or should not make. If it does for whatever reason(making the majority happy or whatever else) then by definition it's not a secular state.
Secular doesnt mean irreligious. It simply means separation of religion and state.
Secular state means that the state will not interfere in the religious matters of its citizens. It will not make nor force religious choices on its citizens. In a secular state citizens are free to make their own religious choices.
So if a Muslim foregoes consuming beef and eats chicken instead in the presence of his Hindu friends out of consideration...that's great...that's his choice...he had the freedom to make that religious choice. If instead he was forced to make that choice due to a law passed by the state...then it is no longer his choice...he no longer has the religious freedom to make that choice. The choice was made for him by the state.
And eating beef is no compulsory religious stuff in Islam. Just like Muslims are being given own Personal laws in a secular state(oxymoron). And eating beef isnt comparable to Hindu method of worship.
How is eating beef not comparable to Hindu method of worship? Let's examine them both...
In case of beef...in terms of Islam: it is only in recent times that humans have had a surplus of food enough that generally middle class or above can almost have meat daily. In the old times when Islam came about meat was a luxury. On Eid-ul-Adha in commemoration of Prophet Abraham sacrificing his son, Muslims are to sacrifice one of the Halal animals and the meat is to be divided amongst u and ur family, neighbors/friends, and the poor/needy. So here a cow can be used as a halal animal for sacrifice. However it's also perfectly fine to use a goat, sheep, camel, etc. The main point is that the slaughter of COW isn't MANDATORY.
Now let's look at Hindu method of worship. The nature of worship in Hinduism remains undefined. It is not obligatory...like for example unlike Islam there isn't a set number of times Hindus have to pray/worship. It's unconditional, unrestricted and not dependent on fixed time...it's rather based on customs instead and not ordained by the religion. Even selecting who to pray/worship to is optional. One family member might pray to Ram while another may pray to Kali. Though common practice has been for centuries and remains that Hindus pray to moortis(idols), which are representations of their gods...it is also not mandatory. If a person is traveling...on a train...and he wishes to pray to Lakshmi devi, his prayer is just as valid as if he was to pray to her moorti.
This is why I gave that analogy
...if the circumstances were reversed...
how would Hindus feel if they were the minority and Muslims were majority in a SECULAR India...
...and a law was passed to ban all the idols/idol worshipping bcuz "it hurts the sentiments of the Muslim majority"(since idolatry is a big no no in Islam and is considered an insult to the one true God) and the reasoning was..."well it's not mandatory for u guys anyways"
Again if it was HINDU REPUBLIC of India...and laws were passed favoring Hinduism...that's fine. However ur forefathers specifically made the case of a secular India. If u guys don't want to continue in that direction then go ahead change it to a Hindu Republic...so at least ppl know what to expect while living in that country. It's this two face thing that's the issue here.