Amidst a social media marketing campaign by Hindu right-wing teams and Sikh organisations towards halal certification for merchandise within the nation, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has eliminated the phrase from its ‘Red Meat Manual’.
The APEDA additionally clarified that there was no situation on the a part of the Indian authorities relating to halal meat. “It is a requirement by a majority of the importing countries/Importers. Halal Certification agencies are accredited directly by respective importing countries. No government agency has any role in this,” it stated.
While the sooner Red Meat Manual of the APEDA, which handles agri-exports beneath the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, stated “animals are slaughtered strictly according to halal method to meet the requirement of Islamic countries”, it now says “the animals are slaughtered according to the requirement of importing country/importer”.
It has additionally deleted these strains: “The animals are slaughtered by halal system under strict vigilance of (a) recognised and registered Islamic body as per the tenets of Islamic Shariyat. The certificate for halal is issued by the representative of registered Islamic body under whose supervision the slaughter is conducted in order to meet the requirement of (the) importing country.”
Sources stated the change was made as the usage of phrase halal within the outdated handbook seemed that this was obligatory for all meat exports.
Islamic nations permit the import of solely halal-certified meat, and India exports buffalo meat to many of those. In 2019-20, India exported Rs 22,668.48 crore value of buffalo meat, with the chief consumers being Vietnam (Rs 7,569.01 crore), Malaysia (Rs 2,682.78 crore), Egypt (Rs 2,364.89 crore), Indonesia (Rs 1,651.97 crore), Saudi Arabia (Rs 873.56 crore), Hong Kong (Rs 857.26 crore), Myanmar (Rs 669.20 cr) and the UAE (Rs 604.47 cr). Most of the exports to Vietnam and Hong Kong get diverted to China.
Right-wing teams, which had cited the APEDA handbook to say the federal government gave the impression to be selling halal meat, known as the change “the first step in the right direction”. However, stated Harinder Sikka, one of many main campaigners towards halal certification, “This is just one step. We will continue our campaign. Halal meat is haram (unlawful) for us Sikhs.”
Sikh organisations have additionally approached Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri to cease serving halal meat on Air India flights.
Sikka claimed the halal certification had led to lack of jobs for different communities as they had been saved out of dealing with meat by slaughterhouses citing halal necessities.
Calling the enterprise “halalanomics”, the VHP’s Vinod Bansal stated, “Halalanomics should be stopped in the country. It has captured the entire economy… Halal certification should be removed from everything,” he stated, including, “If there is halal certification, there should be a jhatka certificate.”
