Ahead of the Ugadi festival in Karnataka, Hindutva outfits in the state have demanded a ban on Halal-certified meat. They have asked Hindus to boycott products with Halal certification alleging that the money from the certification is used for anti-national activities.
The outfits, including Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, have also asked the Hindu community not to visit hotels/eateries with Halal meat dishes on the menu, with some organisations even circulating contact numbers of meat stalls in Bengaluru selling Jhatka meat.
Speaking to News18.com, BJP’s National General Secretary CT Ravi called the practice of selling Halal meat and products economic jihad. “Why should Hindus be forced to buy Halal meat? Halal meat offered to their God is dear to them (Muslims) but for Hindus, it is like somebody’s leftover,” he said.
The fringe outfits have already forced several hotels and restaurants, including a Biriyani joint in Bengaluru, to remove the Halal tag from their menu. Protests to ban Halal meat were witnessed in Nelamangala, Mandya and Mysuru districts as well.
Ugadi, which falls on April 2 this year, is the beginning of the new Hindu lunar calendar and is celebrated across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Traditionally, Hindu families host a feast a day after Ugadi where meat is consumed. Muslims, as per Islamic practices, can only consume Halal meat.
Mohan Gowda, Secretary, Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, alleged, “Money from Halal certification is used for anti-national activities. Hindus should be careful and boycott products having Halal certification. The Union government should ban Halal certification. This is a conspiracy by Islamic organisations. Islamic groups like the Jamiat Ulama-I Hind Halal Trust collects Rs 50,000 annually through Halal certification and then use the money for anti-national activities.”
While Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has refused to react to the matter, saying there was no law and order issue in the state because of the controversy, state Home Minister Araga Jnanendra called the controversy “a reaction to Muslims protesting against the high court’s judgement” on the hijab row. The Karnataka High Court had on March 15 ruled that the hijab isn’t a “part of an essential religious practice in Islam”.
Amid the row, Muslim traders, who have been facing a ban from Hindutva organisations from doing business in temple fairs, are a worried lot now.
The state Congress has squarely blamed the RSS and Sangh Parivar for stoking the controversy with an eye on the next year’s assembly elections. “This is the othering of Muslims. This is what Hitler did in Germany and now the RSS and Sangh Parivar is doing it with Muslims in India,” said Rizwan Arshad, Congress MLA from Shivajinagar constituency.
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