Making the cut: New Delhi orders restaurants to show sacrificial style or lose their license
NEW DELHI: South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) officials said on Saturday that district restaurants risk losing their licenses if they do not show the method of slaughter used for animal meat served in their restaurants, even according to the commentators. similar to “food communion.”
“Under the new rule, when restaurants acquire a license, they will have to write down which meat they will sell: halal or jhatka. We will cancel the license of restaurants that do not show the label, “Rajdutt Gahlot, SDMC’s permanent president, told Arab News on Saturday.
It follows an order approved by the ruling SDMC controlled by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the third week of January this year, in which restaurants were asked to label how meat was slaughtered.
In the form of halal or Islamic sacrifice, the animals are killed by cutting the jugular vein, carotid artery, and trachea, to ensure that all blood is drained from the canal.
In contrast, in the jhatka slaughter style, the animal dies instantly after being beheaded with a single blow.
Gahlot said clear labeling of the slaughter technique was needed for non-halal meat consumers “who will not visit restaurants that sell them.”
“(Similarly), people looking for halal meat will not visit jhatka meat outlets and thus avoid congestion in restaurants,” he said.
The draft resolution approved on December 24 by the SDMC said: “According to Hinduism and Sikhism, the consumption of halal meat is prohibited and against religion … Therefore, the committee resolves that restaurants and butchers should be directed to write compulsorily about the meat sold and served by them … if there is halal or jhatka meat available there “.
Gahlot confirmed to Arab News that the resolution “has been approved,” but declined to comment on the matter.
In August last year, the BJP-controlled East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) had also approved a similar order, with media reports suggesting that North Delhi could soon follow suit. . New Delhi is divided into four zones.
There are more than 2,000 restaurants in the SDMC market area serving nearly 3 million people. More than 80 percent of restaurants sell halal meat, as most of those involved in the meat trade come from the Muslim community.
The National Association of Indian Restaurants (NRAI) had initially resisted the decision to impose the order.
However, he said he does not “anticipate any significant change in customers’ consumption pattern.”
“Currently, consumers have the right to ask what kind of meat a restaurant serves and each restaurateur is obliged to answer this question. The consumer decides accordingly, ”said Neha Grover, head of marketing and communications at NRAI.
“However, if there are significant changes in consumer demand, restaurants will adapt as they do with any other consumer preference, as long as what consumers are looking for is available,” he added.
New Delhi restaurant owners, however, said they were “intrigued” by the SDMC movement, mostly because “people don’t mind eating halal meat or jhatka.”
“My customers hardly ask me if the meat I sell is halal or jhatka,” said Rajeev Kapoor of the popular South Delhi restaurant Rajendra Da Dhaba, adding that “he won’t mind showing the label if that helps the client “.
“The main concern of the majority of the customers is the hygiene and the freshness of the meat. However, we sell halal meat in our store, as most of the suppliers are Muslim, ”he said.
Alam Mahe, who runs a point of sale in south Delhi, agrees and said that while he “had no problem with the order”, his main concern was to “recover from the losses suffered during the pandemic-induced closure “.
On the other hand, Muslim meat traders said they were “afraid” of the fact.
“What is the need for this order? Customers hardly ask about the meat label. I hope this issue does not become one more reason for the division of society, ”said Fahim Ansari, a meat trader in the Delhi area Jamia Nagar.
Since the BJP took power in Delhi in 2014, it has imposed a meat ban. The slaughter of cows, a sacred animal for most Hindus, is prohibited and the consumption of beef is restricted to most Indian states.
There have been cases of lynching and dozens of people, mostly Muslims, have been killed after being accused of eating beef or killing cows. Some state governments controlled by the BJP have also slowed down the meat trade.
Commenting on the SDMC’s latest directive, Indian Express, a leading English newspaper in the country, questioned the BJP’s reason for approving this “divisive order”.
“The reason seems to be to confront the people involved in the animal trade. By marking the food served according to the religion of the person providing it, the BJP-controlled SDMC tries to communityize the food, ”he said.
The former head of the Delhi Minorities Commission, Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, agreed and described the movement as a “war on Muslims” and an attempt to “marginalize” Muslims economically.
“The decision of the Delhi Municipal Corporation, controlled by the BJP, is part of an economic war against Muslims,” he told Arab News. “The BJP started with severe restrictions on the meat business shortly after coming to power in 2014. The leather business, also controlled by Muslims, has been almost ruined.”
Khan added that, “writing halal on the signs of meat shops and restaurants means that many Hindus and Sikhs will not take care of these shops. It will soon be possible to replicate in other BJP-controlled states.”
The idea, he said, is to “marginalize and impoverish Muslims” who traditionally control most of the meat business in the country.