The initiative of SDMC for mandatory declaration of meat, whether Halal or Jhatka is very welcome. For the 'secular' naysayers: Why should Hindus, Sikhs and other non-Muslims not have a right to choose the kind of meat they want to consume? Why should Hindu butchers and meat traders be pushed out of business like a Ghazi Firman?
Sensing the growing disquiet among Hindus and Sikhs being served Halal meat without being informed, the BJP led South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has proposed a mandatory display of the category of meat being served, whether it is Halal or Jhatka, to be made by restaurants and meat shops within its area of jurisdiction as reported by the Times of India on 24.12.2020.
The Standing Committee of the SDMC has approved the said proposal, which will be voted on by the house where the BJP is in majority. So, the said proposal is most likely to become a direction to be followed by the restaurants and meat shops operating within the jurisdiction area of the SDMC.
The Standing Committee Chairperson, Rajdutt Gahlot reasoned that the consumer has a right to know about the kind of meat being served, so that they can make an informed choice. The SDMC Chairperson also pointed out that licensees violate the license issued for one of kind of meat by sale of other. The resolution was moved by Anita Tanwar, the Chattarpur Councillor, by the medical relief and public health panel.
The resolution of the SDMC observed that, according to Hinduism and Sikhism, eating Halal meat is forbidden. Therefore, the committee resolved that a direction should be given to the restaurants and meat shops that it should be mandatorily written whether the meat being served is Halal or Jhatka.
As usual the Times of India tried to duplicitously portray that the consumers do not care whether the meat, they are served is Halal or Jhatka and the move will be detrimental to the business of many restaurants and meat shops as they would lose business for serving one type of meat. Now, how can the Times of India claim that consumers do not care about the meat they consume and later claim through unnamed sources in the SDMC saying the direction is unlikely to be adopted by the 2000 eateries in its jurisdiction as it would hurt their business? So, this proves that many non-Muslims do find it objectionable to consume Halal meat, as that is the only kind of meat sold slyly by most of the eateries including the American chain of eateries Mc Donald’s as all of them want to appease the Muslim sentiments.
Moreover, when meat shops run by Muslims proudly announce that the meat sold is Halal, why shouldn’t meat shops owned by Hindus declare the meat served as Jhatka, unless of course they are being forced to sell Halal meat. Moreover, Halal meat also signifies that the meat was butchered and processed only by Muslims and it is done by chanting some Quranic verses. So, the secularists who try to promote Halal meat by insisting that it does not matter which kind of meat is served, are essentially putting Hindu butchers and Hindu meat businesses out of employment and ensuring employment of Muslims only.
Moreover, the Times of India sanctimoniously suggests that “the invocation of religion makes it prescriptive and presumptive” for making it mandatory to display whether the meat is Halal or Jhatka. The “secular” reporters and editors at TOI may be aware that Islamic theology allows only consumption of Halal meat by Muslims, but may not be aware that Sikhs following “Rahit Maryada” are forbidden from consuming Halal meat and they prefer the Jhatka meat in which the animal is cut in a swift movement rather than the torturous method of slowly letting the animal bleed to death. The very method of slow slaughter of the animal and reading of Quranic verses to consecrate the meat is offensive to the sensibilities of many practicing Hindus and Sikhs. Would the Muslims conversely be open to consuming meat offered to Devi as prasad of the deity? Then why do the so-called liberals insist that practicing Hindus and Sikhs consume Halal meat in the name of inclusiveness?
The SDMC is not even banning Halal meat by terming it cruel and non-inclusive as it bars the employment of non-Muslims, it is only providing the consumers an informed choice before they buy the meat. Why should the self-appointed champions of civil liberties have a problem if people have a choice to consume Halal or Jhatka meat? Perhaps the main concern of the secularists, who have morphed in to Islamists, is that Muslims would have to compete with Hindus in the meat business as when Hindus and Sikhs refuse to consume Halal meat and demand Jhatka, the monopoly enjoyed by Muslims in meat business would be lost. By the way, has the Jain family of the Times Group invested in Halal meat export business that they want to promote only Halal meat at the cost of loss of livelihoods of thousands of Hindu butchers and meat traders?
This initiative of the SDMC is very welcome and hopefully this is adopted by the Central Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs should come up with a directive to all eateries, hotels and meat shops in India to put up boards prominently displaying whether the meat served is Halal or Jhatka. Why should Hindus, Sikhs and other non-Muslims not have a right to choose the kind of meat they want to consume, after all we are not an Islamic State where only Quranic and Sharia rules can be followed. Importantly, why should Hindu butchers and meat traders be pushed out of business like a Ghazi Firman?
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