Making the Cut: New Delhi orders eateries to exhibit slaughter style or lose license
NEW DELHI: Officials from the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) said on Saturday that restaurants in the district are at risk of losing their permits if they fail to demonstrate the slaughter method used for animal meat served in their eateries, even as commenters say said the move was akin to ‘gathering food together’.
“Under the new rule, when they get a permit, restaurants will have to write which meat they want to sell: halal or jhatka. We will cancel the license of the restaurants that do not display the label, ”Rajdutt Gahlot, SDMC’s permanent chairman, told Arab News Saturday.
It follows an order from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) controlled SDMC in the third week of January of this year, asking restaurants to label how meat was slaughtered.
In the halal or Islamic form of slaughter, animals are killed by cutting the jugular vein, carotid artery and trachea to ensure that all blood is drained from the carcass.
In the jhatka style of slaughter, on the other hand, the animal dies immediately after its head is cut with one blow.
Gahlot said clear labeling of the slaughter technique was needed for non-halal meat consumers “who will not visit restaurants that sell such meat.”
“(Likewise) persons looking for halal meat will not visit outlets selling jhatka meat and this way it will avoid crowds in eateries,” he said.
The motion for a resolution passed by the SDMC on December 24 said: “According to Hinduism and Sikhism, eating halal meat is prohibited and contrary to religion … Therefore the committee decides that restaurants and butchers should be obliged to write about meat sold and served by them … whether halal or jhatka meat is available. “
Gahlot confirmed to Arab News that the resolution “has been passed,” but declined to comment on the matter.
Last August, the BJP-controlled East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) had also passed a similar injunction, with media reports suggesting that North Delhi could soon follow suit. New Delhi is divided into four zones.
There are over 2,000 eateries in the upscale SDMC area, serving nearly 3 million people. More than 80 percent of eateries sell halal meat, as most of those involved in the meat trade are from the Muslim community.
The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) initially opposed the decision to impose the injunction.
However, it said it “does not foresee any significant changes in consumers’ consumption patterns.”
“Consumers currently have the right to ask what kind of meat a eatery serves, and every restaurateur is obliged to answer this question. The consumer decides accordingly, ”says Neha Grover, NRAI Marketing and Communications Manager.
“However, if there are significant changes in consumer demand, restaurants will adapt as they do with other consumer preferences, depending on the availability of what consumers are looking for,” she added.
However, restaurateurs in New Delhi said they were “intrigued” by the move of the SDMC, mainly because “people don’t care if they eat halal or jhatka meat.”
“My customers hardly ask me if the meat I sell is halal or jhatka,” said Rajeev Kapoor of popular South Delhi eatery Rajendra Da Dhaba, adding that he “won’t mind showing the label like that. the customer helps. “
“The main concern of most customers is the hygiene and freshness of the meat. We also sell halal meat in our shop otherwise, as most of the suppliers are Muslim, ”he said.
Alam Mahe, who runs a outlet in South Delhi, agreed, saying that while he “had no problem with the order,” his main concern was “to recover from the losses suffered during the pandemic-induced lockdown. . “
On the other hand, Muslim meat traders said they were “worried” about the move.
“What is the need for such an order? Customers hardly ask for the label of the meat. I hope this issue does not become another cause for division in society, ”said Fahim Ansari, a meat merchant in Jamia Nagar, Delhi.
Since the BJP took power in Delhi in 2014, it has imposed a beef ban. The slaughter of cows, an animal sacred to most Hindus, is prohibited and beef consumption is restricted in 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 slaughtering cows. Some BJP-controlled state governments have also curtailed the meat trade.
In response to the latest directive from the SDMC, the Indian Express, a leading English newspaper in the country, disputed the BJP’s motive for adopting such a “divisive warrant.”
“The motive seems to be to set people involved in the animal trade against each other. By branding food served according to the religion of those providing it, the BJP-controlled SDMC is trying to communalize food, ”he said.
The former chief of the Delhi Minority Commission, Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, agreed, calling the move “warfare against Muslims” and an attempt to “marginalize” Muslims economically.
“The decision of the BJP-controlled Delhi Municipal Corporation is part of an economic warfare against Muslims,” he told Arab News. “The BJP began tight restrictions on the meat trade shortly after it took power in 2014. The hide trade, also controlled by Muslims, is almost ruined.”
Khan added that by ‘writing halal on the signs of meat shops and eateries, many Hindus and Sikhs will not have to deal with such shops. It may soon be replicated in other states controlled by the BJP. “
The idea, he said, is to “marginalize and impoverish Muslims,” who traditionally control most of the country’s meat trade.