Majority Hindus in India have no freedom of choice due to the insistence on ‘Halal’ : Satish Kochrekar of HJS

Mumbai – “In a secular India, everyone is meant to have the freedom to practice his religion / sect; but majority of Hindus in India do not have this freedom. Muslims insist on ‘Halal’ meat according to Islamic beliefs, while Hindu and Sikh non-vegetarians are allowed to eat ‘Jhatka’ meat, and ‘Halal’ meat is prohibited within areas where Sikhs live. However, foreign establishments such as McDonald’s, which do business in India, are only providing ‘Halal certified’ non-vegetarian food. Isn’t this an insult to the majority of Hindus ? Isn’t this against the secular principle of the Constitution and harming the religious freedom of Hindus by forcing them to eat Halal meat ?”, asked Mr Satish Kochrekar (Spokesperson of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti [HJS]) at a press conference organised at Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh.

Mr Kochrekar added, “There is no reason why Muslims should not eat ‘Halal’ according to their sect; but why only ‘Halal’ is being sold to Hindus from Muslim shops ? Thus, Hindu consumers are being deprived of their consumer rights. ‘Halal’ is what is acceptable to Islam, while ‘Haram’ means forbidden according to Islam. The Islamic form of slaughtering animals, ‘Halal’, must be performed by a Muslim only, involves killing through a cut to the jugular vein, carotid artery and windpipe. Animals must be alive and healthy at the time of slaughter and all blood is drained from the carcass, while reciting Islamic ayats with the head of the animal facing Mecca. ‘Halal’ is performed in the name of Allah by reciting ‘Bismillah Allahu Akbar’; hence, forcing Hindus to eat ‘Halal’ meat amounts to harming the Dharma of Hindus.

Today, ‘Halal’ is not limited to meat or food, it has become an economy. Halal certification is required for everything, from cosmetics to hospitals. Establishments in India are ‘Halal’ certified to export products to Islamic countries. Despite Government bodies such as FSSAI and FDA in India, and related certificates, some Muslim religious organisations such as Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind Halal Trust, Jamiat Ulema-e-Maharashtra are forcing establishments to take ‘Halal’ certificates. Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind is fighting the cases of Muslim accused in various Jihadi activities and bomb blasts in India. ‘Halal’ money is being used for providing legal help to terrorists. This could pose a threat to India’s economy and national security. Hence, Hindus should boycott ‘Halal’ certified products and the Government should stop the unauthorised ‘Halal’ certification, which is privately run”.

Why is the so-called progressive community silent on ‘Halal’ certification ? : Adv. Khush Khandelwal

“When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the renovation site of Shri Ram temple in Ayodhya, some ‘progressives’ remembered that India was a secular country. Some establishments in India are forcing Hindus to take ‘Halal’ certificates for all food items. This is against the principle of secularism.

Why don’t these so-called progressives think of secularism about ‘Halal’ certification ?”, asked Advocate Khush Khandelwal.

He said that keeping quiet about the injustice being meted out to Hindus by using words such as ‘Secularism’, ‘Rights given by the Constitution’ and ‘Inter-faith harmony’ as per their own convenience is a sham.