How much overlap is there between people who lean towards hindu nationalist positions, or at least provide apologia for them in an online forum like this, and support for stringent cattle protection laws. 

Would be a pointless exercise because of the same reasons that Shahab Ahmed’s book is being criticized on another post. Equating Hinduism or Hindu Nationalism to cow protection is highly reductive albeit one in which the strongest claimants of leadership to the movement seem to have hitched their wagons. Personally speaking, I come from a community where cows are important across cultural, religious, economic and social axes – dairy farming was and to a large extent continues to be important to Jats in West UP and Haryana. The cow is practically a family member, no different from how seriously people in the West take their dogs/cats. It also holds significant economic value with prices running up in to several thousands to upwards of a lakhs in open markets. In Western UP, especially in areas where the demographics are on a knife-edge, this can lead to situations where economic and religious paradigms overlap for both communities. I saw this first hand as a 5 year old when the house of one of my uncles was raided by kasais from a nearby village and their cattle stolen. Our extended family went into even more of a siege mentality and we lost one of our cousins who, in an ill-advised and emotionally charged environment, decided to acquire a handmade pistol that predictably backfired. In a cruel irony, his source for the pistol was a Shia Muslim friend.

Experiencing that left a deep scar on my mindset, and it took a lot of introspection to reach my current view: a more Savarkarite perspective. While I am not in favor of a beef ban or the resulting vigilantism, the Muslim community should also be sensitive to broader Hindu feelings and avoid provocative slaughter practices, which history shows have often triggered religious violence. Article 48 of the Constitution makes it very clear that the our drafting assembly understood and appreciated this.

The issue is further muddied by sensationalist journalism from both sides of the aisle. I hold the left particularly culpable for dismissing how deeply sensitive this matter is to certain communities, often masking personal attacks as serious analysis.

P.S.: I came across a surprisingly nuanced, solution-oriented journal article by four Pakistani authors (link) – something I can never expect from an ideologically blinded left-liberal intelligentsia. While it still relies on some tropes, it urges both communities to address the issue together. I believe cooperation is possible, even if it is unlikely under our toxically competitive democratic politics. Comparisons with Pakistan Nationalists are a non-starter because the question of Islamic supremacy has been settled and there is no threat or challenge to that in the foreseeable future so the majority doesn’t feel insecure in its cultural expressions. India, on the other hand, has a majority community that still suffers from siege mentality for very understandable reasons.