Halal Food & what Hindus need to know about this apartheid on us

[prasadr]

https://dynastycrooks.wordpress.com/

 

I

have to speak out on the social media firestorm that has raged on for the last few days.

First, let us get one thing out of the way. If you are frustrated with Indian “secularism,” as most of us are,  you should do two things:

(1) Question the liberal pseudo-secular establishment which advocates for appeasement of minorities.

(2) Demand that the Govt of India should be more aggressive in breaking down the pseudo-secular establishment.

You should never…and I say never… ever take out your frustration on the most powerless people at the bottom of the ladder. Someone who is doing an honest day’s work for a hard earned wage.

The whole debate erupted when somebody in Madhya Pradesh refused to accept a food delivery because the rider was not Hindu. What he did was ridiculous at best and bigoted at worst.

But what his bigotry did is shine a light on how we as a society have learned to submit, casually and without thought, to the bigotry of members of “one community.” This brings me to the issue of Halal food, about which I have been itching to write for a while.

Several ordinary Hindus would wonder : what’s the big deal with Halal meat? My religion does not forbid eating Halal. So what if somebody else feels better if the meat is “Halal”? Why should I care?

Halal food is a symbol of apartheid against Hindus

The first thing one should realize is that when you eat Halal meat, you are actually participating in a religiously mandated apartheid against the Hindu community. The process for Halal is very clear : the butcher can only be a Muslim and in some interpretations, a member of a faith group that is one of the “People of the Book,” i.e., Christian, Muslim or Jewish.

This means that a business that is serving Halal only is participating in apartheid against Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, atheists and so on.

Still think it is harmless? Imagine if there were airlines out there that were boasting “certificates” that none of their crew members are Hindus. Would that offend you? What if this was systemic, with popular travel websites indicating which airlines do not allow Hindus to be crew members?

How would that make you feel?

This goes further. Suppose that there is a Muslim or Christian person who buys a ticket on an airline. Then realizes that the airline does employ Hindus … demands a refund and gets their money back along with an apology!

Would that offend you? Would you feel like you are being dehumanized?

Just because Halal food is common and people barely notice how ubiquitous it is does not mean it is not based on the same principle of apartheid.

What if Halal is just a label?

Then there are other Hindus who say Halal food is just a label, so ignore it. I already explained how it is more than just a label, rather it is a symbol of apartheid. But suppose it was just a label.

Don’t labels matter? What if tomorrow the Republic of India were to be renamed the “British Territory of India” but we get to keep everything else: our sovereignty, our constitution, etc. Does the official name of our country have any direct impact on our daily lives?

But I am guessing most Indians would be against it. Because labels matter.

The way most food establishments, even multi national chains like McDonalds submit to Halal, is a symptom of public spaces being taken over by one religion. This is particularly jarring when you realize that Hindus do not so much as have control over their own places of worship.

But there is no market demand for specifically non-Halal food

The businesses get it absolutely right on this one. Why should restaurants go through the trouble of specifically procuring non-Halal food when there is no market demand for it? A private business is entitled to make basic economic decisions based on customer feedback and their need to maximize profits.

But why isn’t there more market demand? This brings us to the “commitment gap” that most people are familiar with. One side is so bold in its intolerance that it will not accept the slightest compromise. Another side just wants to get on with their daily lives.

This is not to make fun of those who just want to get on with their lives. They are doing the most important thing. Working hard. Creating wealth in the economy. Taking care of their families.

As such, the culture becomes subject to what is called the “tragedy of the commons.” Because the culture belongs to nobody in particular, it is not a priority for most people. This allows a highly motivated minority to seize the culture completely. Most other people remain oblivious to it until it is too late.

The Zomato founder wanted to take the moral high ground when he claimed he was not afraid to lose business because of his values. As the internet swiftly pointed out to him, Zomato does business in Qatar, where homosexuality is punishable with death. I am going to assume that they do not want gay people to be given the death penalty.

So spare us the lectures. You know what I think he meant to say? I think he meant to say that he knows one group of people is supremely tolerant and accommodating and another is probably not. So he will continue to pander to the intolerant group as well as generate good PR for his business by condemning isolated bigots in the generally tolerant one.

[BetterThief]

[prasadr]

Halal is discrimination and apartheid on Hindus,

 

Halal meat means only a muslim can cut the meat, meaning any meat cut By hindus would not be Halal and not consumed by muslims.

But

because most hotels and food chains use Halal means, this means, these establishments are INTENTIONALLY not buying meat from Hindu & Sikh butchers.

 

I have stopped eating Halal meat looong back, it's time all Hindus and Sikhs did the same.

[prasadr]

How Islam Uses Halal Industry To Wage Economic Jihad

https://swarajyamag.com/politics/how-islam-uses-halal-industry-to-wage-economic-jihad

 

A Zomato customer cancelling his order because the delivery boy was a Muslim has sparked off a series of debates around dietary choices, constitutional rights, religious bigotry, caste discrimination and what not.

One of the most intense of these is around Zomato’s reply to the customer that ‘food has no religion’ and the subsequent calling out of the food delivery service app by customers who reminded it that it has been very sensitive in the past to Muslim sentiments in ensuring they get only halal meat, which, by definition, means meat that is permissible in Islam.

Zomato clarified that that was simply ‘demand and supply’ powers at play and it would gladly cater to delivering jhatka meat too if there is demand for it.

It is pertinent to note that Muslims, who want halal meat, are only 15 per cent of the country’s population but halal meat sold in India is much higher in proportion and is increasing every year. Since, a minority section of the population deeply cares about the kind of meat it prefers and the rest 85 per cent couldn’t care less about the method of meat preparation, it is inevitable that the minority population will end up thrusting its religious food choice on the whole country as it is convenient for sellers to just provide halal meat.

This trend is however problematic because it’s not just a matter of simple economics.

According to the Halal Certification Services India Pvt Ltd (HCS), a state-run agency providing halal certification, ‘Animals killed in the name of anyone other than ALLAH (God) are haram ‘without any doubt’.

Halal trust website of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (largest Muslim organisation in India) states that the halal slaughter man must ‘be a Muslim’, ‘be authorized and be under the supervision of a certified Islamic organization’, and ‘slaughter the animal according to Islamic rite including recitation of Bismillah Allahu-Akbar before slaughtering each animal.’

Now understand this in the context of an increasing share of halal meat industry. We are effectively moving towards a situation where one community will enjoy complete monopoly over the whole meat industry worth billions of dollars based on religious identity.

We must ask if this is even constitutional. It certainly seems to be in contravention of the SC/ST act, which outlaws economic boycott.

Section 3(1)(zc) of the act reads: ‘Whoever, not being a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe imposes or threatens a social or economic boycott of any person or a family or a group belonging to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to five years and with fine”, where economic boycott means ‘a refusal to deal with, work for hire or do business with other person’ among other things.

Now, the fast-growing halal-compliant slaughter industry might argue that it is positively discriminating in favour of Muslims and there is no boycott per se at least on SCs/STs by the virtue of them being from reserved communities; but that doesn’t matter as the reading of the text is clear that the only conditions that need to be satisfied are:

a) if there is economic boycott; b) the one being boycotted is an SC/ST; and c) the one boycotting is not an SC/ST.

It would be interesting to see the Indian judiciary ruling on this matter.

Nonetheless, the bottom-line is that one religion seeks to achieve monopoly over a whole industry. What is it but economic jihad, a war in the monetary realm inspired by religious ideals to gain an upper hand over the infidels?

My usage of jihad here shouldn't be taken in a negative sense. It's a brilliant strategy and every group strives to gain in strength using all means at its disposal. However, I believe this is not healthy for the Indian nation.

Both the state as well as the society at large will have to come together to ensure that discrimination in employment in such a blatant manner is discontinued.

The proliferation in halal compliant products is not just an India-centric trend. It’s a worldwide issue. According to The Daily Mail, “51 per cent of lamb, 31 per cent of chicken, and 7 per cent of beef slaughtered in Britain – from a total of 16 million animals per week – is now 'religiously killed', according to the FSA [Food Standards Agency]. That's far more than the Muslim community, which constitutes around five percent of the country’s population, can possibly consume.”

A study by Adroit Market Research shows that the global halal market size reached 4.54 trillion dollars in 2017 (way more than the current GDP of countries like Germany, India and UK) and is expected to rise to 9.71 trillion dollars by 2025.

India has 15 per cent of Muslim population which translates to more than 10 per cent of World’s Muslim population. Additionally, half of India’s food export is imported by Muslim countries which are part of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Obviously, India is going to be a huge market for halal products.

While one is concerned about the creation of the halal meat industry, which effectively means “of the Muslims, by the Muslims, for everyone”, it is important to note that halal meat is only one part of this debate. Even vegetarian food can be halal certified.

Apart from food items, certification can be sought for ‘non-alcohol beverage, raw materials needed in food processing, pharmaceutical and health care products, traditional herbal products, cosmetics and personal care products, cleaning products, daily consumable products and leather-made products (e.g. shoes, furniture and hand-bag).’

While the former (halal meat) must be opposed because of its inherently bigoted nature (halal has pure/impure connotations - animals slaughtered by non-Muslims are unfit to be consumed), there is a lot to learn from how the Muslim Ummah is creating a global economic ecosystem around halal certification.

Islamic organisations are the biggest beneficiaries of the certification business. For instance, Jamiat Ulima-i-Hind charges Rs 20,000 for registration of an Indian company and Rs 500 for each product (GST charges are extra). Then there is renewal fee of Rs 15,000 as the registration is valid only for one year. These religious organisations are the intermediaries between producers and consumers and charge a fee for their services which ensures regular income to them.

As the halal certification business grows each year, they acquire more and more money power, which can then be utilised in funding religious works furthering Islam’s influence. By demanding a simple religious obligation from its followers, Islam has created a massive ecosystem out of nothing simply by drawing on the commitment of the devout.

There is a lesson for others to learn from this if they want to: on harnessing the power of numbers to further increase your strength.

So, while the economic jihad of the halal meat kind, which is rooted in bigotry and discrimination against non-Muslims must be fought tooth and nail, there is lot to learn from how Islam is harnessing the power of commitment of its followers to create an ecosystem to serve and further its cause.

[BetterThief]

धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः

[BostonBullodu]

2 minutes ago, prasadr said:

Halal is discrimination and apartheid on Hindus,

 

Halal meat means only a muslim can cut the meat, meaning any meat cut By hindus would not be Halal and not consumed by muslims.

But

because most hotels and food chains use Halal means, this means, these establishments are INTENTIONALLY not buying meat from Hindu & Sikh butchers.

 

I have stopped eating Halal meat looong back, it's time all Hindus and Sikhs did the same.

skipping the above for my entire life and my love for HALAL never dies irrespective of religion  baaa 

[BetterThief]

Just now, BostonBullodu said:

skipping the above for my entire life and my love for HALAL never dies irrespective of religion  baaa 

what's s0 special in halal?

[BostonBullodu]

Just now, BetterThief said:

what's s0 special in halal?

I don't know but when it comes to goat, liver, goat head and paya HALAL meat rocks baa 

[TokyoJaani]

Perspective is everything. We all born and die  if not same similar way and all these rules are just controlling each other to prevail for nothing. There’s nothing wrong in believing in a system as long as it won’t lead to a disaster

[Hector8]

what is ur opinion on indus who eat beef 

[tennisluvr]

5 minutes ago, Hector8 said:

what is ur opinion on indus who eat beef 

They aren't putting anyone out of business by doing that, are they? It's purely a personal choice. 

[Somedude]

6 minutes ago, Hector8 said:

what is ur opinion on indus who eat beef 

++ asking opinion of BJP which supports beef eating in some places. BJP in some states support Kerala and a few north eastern states.

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/beef-kerala-bjp-candidate-gujarat-cow-slaughter-uttar-pradesh-969055-2017-04-02

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bjp-candidate-for-kerala-lok-sabha-bypoll-promises-quality-beef-if-elected/story-B2ehprQLFxjRQhx3UzMVqO.html

 

 

 

[tennisluvr]

6 minutes ago, Hector8 said:

what is ur opinion on indus who eat beef 

The topic here isn't about one's moral superiority vs the other, and why a certain personal habit or trait is deemed superior to something else. 

The point the OP is trying to make here is that by insisting on only Halal meat which has to be cut by a Muslim and muslim only, they are putting the other meat cutters and butchers out of business. So it's an economic apartheid, pure and simple. 

Now please don't come up with asinine arguments saying you don't cut meat or no one you knows cuts meat and so you don't think the topic is going to affect you. It goes beyond just you or I here. 

[tennisluvr]

1 minute ago, Somedude said:

++ asking opinion of BJP which supports beef eating in some places. BJP in some states support Kerala and a few north eastern states.

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/beef-kerala-bjp-candidate-gujarat-cow-slaughter-uttar-pradesh-969055-2017-04-02

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bjp-candidate-for-kerala-lok-sabha-bypoll-promises-quality-beef-if-elected/story-B2ehprQLFxjRQhx3UzMVqO.html

 

 

 

Again irrelevant to what the OP is trying to make. How does this justify economic apartheid the kind OP is trying to emphasize? 

[Somedude]

1 minute ago, tennisluvr said:

Again irrelevant to what the OP is trying to make. How does this justify economic apartheid the kind OP is trying to emphasize? 

Ok