Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh has suggested Hindus to give up eating halal meat and consume only 'jhatka', the flesh of animals slaughtered by a single blow of the blade.
The senior BJP leader, made a plea to the effect in his Begusarai parliamentary constituency where he also made his supporters take the pledge that they will henceforth not spoil their 'dharma' by eating halal meat.
“I admire the Muslims who make it a point to consume only halal meat. Now Hindus should demonstrate a similar commitment to their own religious traditions,” Giriraj Singh said.
"The Hindu way of slaughter is jhatka. Whenever Hindus perform 'bali' (animal sacrifice), they do so in a single stroke. As such, they must not corrupt themselves by eating halal meat. They must always stick to jhatka," the minister added.
Union Minister also stressed on the need for a new business model in which there would be abattoirs and shops selling only jhatka meat.
A few weeks ago, Singh had also written a letter to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to ban the sale of food products labelled as "halal", drawing inspiration from the Yogi Adityanath government in adjoining Uttar Pradesh.
Last month Uttar Pradesh government took a decisive step against the illegal issuance of 'Halal Certificates', and issued an order that forbade the production, storage, distribution, and sale of food products with the halal certification. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also defended UP government's move. She said food certification should be done only by governmental agencies, and not by non-governmental organisations.
The BJP was caught in a controversy, with opposition leaders criticising the move.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party for banning Halal products and accused them of creating a rift between communities.
At that time, Giriraj Singh thanked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister for the investigation on 'Halal Products'.
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