FOLLOWING THE HIJAB BAN IN SCHOOLS, THE HINDUTVA GROUPS HAVE TURNED THEIR ATTENTION ON HALAL MEAT, SAYING THAT THEY ARE STARTING A CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE PURCHASE OF HALAL MEAT AS IT IS “CULLED UNDER ISLAMIC PRACTICES AND CANNOT BE OFFERED TO HINDU GODS”.
By Akhlad Khan – Twitter: @BawaNaaved
Just days after Karnataka’s state Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai promised to look into objections against the selling of halal meat, members of the extremist Sangeet Som Sena Hindu organization attacked a vegetarian rice vendor in Meerut district in India’s Uttar Pradesh state. The Sena members alleged that the rice vendor was selling meat while operating in a ‘Hindu-majority’ area.
After verbally abusing the vendor, Sangeet Som Sena members went on to attack the vendor and his stall. An FIR was later registered at the police station under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code against the head of the Organization Sachin Khatik and 30 others.
According to the complaint, some of the members threatened the vendor Shahid and falsely accused him of selling Non-Vegetarian food. The vendor told the Hindu mob that their claims were baseless, but they refused to accept his pleas and moved to assault him and vandalized his stall.
A video filmed of the incident went viral on social media, food can be seen thrown on the road by the violent mob. A probe revealed that the goons were the supporters of the violent political party BJP. As per the reports none of the accused have been arrested so far.
Following the hijab ban in schools, the Hindutva groups have turned their attention on halal meat. The term ‘halal’ usually refers to the slaughter and preparation of meat in line with Islamic practices. Hindu Janajagrithi Samithi, a right-wing organisation in Karnataka, said that they are starting a campaign against the purchase of Halal meat as it is “culled under Islamic practices and cannot be offered to Hindu gods”.
The campaign is the latest in the series of controversies in the Indian state where the hijab row has manifested into restricting members of the minority community from participating in religious fairs associated with the majority. Taking advantage of the campaign, many cases of assaults have been reported, multiple cases have been lodged against the Hindu right-wing activists for vandalizing Muslim shops.
