Meamo, a jhatka meat startup started by Bengaluru-based Sudarshan Boosupalli, is gaining a lot of orders in the last few weeks, thanks to contention between Halal and Jhatka. Halal is the method used by the Muslim community to butcher the animals while the Jhatka is the method deployed by the people in Dharmic religions like Hinduism and Sikhism.
In the last few years, the consumption of Jhatka meat is rising, thanks to growing consciousness among Hindus. The Sikh consumers used to consume only Jhatka meat but Hindus have no problem with consuming either Halal or Jhatka. However, with growing awareness of how Muslims are trying to monopolize the meat industry by imposing their methods on the majority community, they now ask for Jhatka meat at shops.
“When we were still contemplating over the idea, news of RTI query revealing that Air India serves only Halal meat on-board to its flyers came out leading to a huge controversy. Then similar rows erupted in case of Zomato, McDonald’s etc” the Meamo founder says.
Why should people who do not subscribe to Islam be forced to eat meat butchered by Islamic principles? Most of the meat sold in India is halal. You have everything from cosmetics, vaccines and even holidays that are certified halal. It is a religion-driven $7-trillion global business.
Religious certification of food products is becoming a big issue in India, as extremist Muslims have been monopolising the regulation of non-vegetarian, as well as, vegetarian food through halal certification. Even companies like Patanjali were forced to take halal certification from various Muslim certification bodies, which charge hefty money ranging from 500 rupees to 5,000 rupees per food product.
Previously, multinational fast-food chain McDonald’s was caught in a fix after the company had declared that they only serve Islamic halal-certified foods in India. This declaration, coming from the food chain, had unsettled consumers from several communities who either had reservations against the painful and inherently exclusionist halal technique or had other religious compulsions.
The halal meat industry is ‘of the Muslims, by the Muslims but for everyone’. In countries around the world including the United States, the United Kingdom and India, the tiny Muslim minority has forced the majority community to adhere to their practices and standards.
Meat consumption is growing in India exponentially. ”Consumer meat industry in India has shown tremendous development in the last decade and is estimated at $94 billion. Revenue in the Fresh Meat segment amounts to upward of US $50 bn in 2021. The market is expected to grow annually by 7.92 per cent (CAGR 2021-2025),”says Boosupalli.
The Muslim community has already monopolised the non-vegetarian food industry and forced lower caste and lower class Hindus to go unemployed. As even vegetarian food units are being asked to get the halal certification if they want a smooth run without a boycott from Muslims, despite the fact, that all vegetarian food is halal (pure) as per Quran. In a country where a majority of consumers are non-Muslims, Halal food is being forced down their throat, thanks to cartelisation, fundamentalism, and unity of Muslims.
The rise of the Halal meat industry shows the increasing resentment among other communities towards the hardline stance of the Muslim community that pushed its religious practice down the throat of other communities.