Busted! : Circulation of halal products in markets is creating a parallel economy to fund violent. 

Hindutva groups have claimed that the circulation of halal groups has led to “anti-national” activities being funded and a parallel economy being run. However, existing institutional mechanisms, point otherwise. Firstly, according to those who supply halal certificates, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has notified certification bodies to register themselves with the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB), Quality Council of India.

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This means that the certification process seems to be very much under the government’s purview. Secondly, the UP government has banned the sale of these product only on the domestic market, there is insufficient evidence as how this could lead to the creation of any parallel economy. The domestic flow of halal goods, according to reports, is very low as most of the halal certification process on goods is done for export purposes. Multinational corporations, like Reliance, Adani Pvt Ltd., make use of halal certificates for their exports. Thus, the ban on these goods seems untenable and appears to be motivated by political reasons other than what seems to have been stated. There is no national halal certifying body in India for export goods or for the sale of goods in India. In the absence of this, the sentiment against halal goods seems like an attempt is being made to communalise as issue which is bureaucratic and has little to do with religion.

What are Halal products?

Recently the UP government initiated a ban on the manufacture, sale, and distribution of Halal non-meat products, including cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, within domestic markets; as of now, there is no ban on the export of these products.

Halal essentially means “lawful” or “permissible”; observant of the Islamic faith are required to follow dietary guidelines set by Islamic law that designates certain food items as halal i.e., permissible, and thereby prohibits others.

Apart from Muslims, Jews also have a system of religiously mandated dietary prescriptions which are followed globally, called kosher. Due to these dietary preferences, there is a global demand for halal and kosher foods that industries worldwide seek to meet. Countries across the world have mechanisms, public and private, to certify halal and kosher foods for citizens. According to Forbes, the global market for halal goods was set to reach 3 trillion dollars in 2023. There are several brands, cites Forbes, that provide halal certified products such as dates, hummus, cosmetics, meat etc. Similarly, kosher food also faces a growing market for consumers who are Jewish and non-Jewish alike.

Speaking to Forbes, Shayn Prapaisilp, chief operating officer of Global Foods Group, an international grocery store in Missouri that stocks thousands of halal products and imports from around the world, says that, “Muslims represent a significant market segment that American brands are not always reaching,” and posits that halal food is imported from across the world, including North Africa, Asia, and even parts of Europe. Amongst countries globally, Turkey, Vietnam and Thailand, Japan, Philippines and even Australia are leading in the production of halal products at a global level. India too is said to have a “booming” share in this industry.

Why do companies use halal certificates on vegetarian or non-food items?

Halal certification for products is mainly pursued by manufacturers for export purposes because it is a market requirement. In India, several companies are responsible for issuing halal certificates, these companies are not religious bodies but remain in connection with religious bodies. Consumers of halal goods want to be ensured that the products they are buying, be it cosmetics or medicine, and is halal-compliant, in the sense that it does not hold ingredients, such as alcohol or pork. According to Scroll.in, companies seek halal certification as a halal certificate is mandatory for exporting products to Muslim-majority nations. Some of the products that are to be exported sometimes are distributed in the domestic market as a way of cutting costs, however that remains a very small percentage of products. In India, private entities, often with the support of religious bodies, are responsible for issuing these certificates.

The first recorded instance of halal certification being issues in India was recorded in 1974 for meat. Following this, in 1993, this was extended to other products as well. Since, unlike other nations, India has no official certifying committee or body for certifying halal goods. Thereby in the absence of one, organisations have to take up the role to provide certifications for companies to export these products abroad.

So, what is the Halal product ban row?

In April 2022, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court for a complete ban on halal certification and products which argued that it was an imposition forced on “85%” of Indians. Earlier this year, a company like Himalaya was targeted for having meat in its products, after halal labels on Himalaya’s products went viral, suggesting that halal means a product has non-vegetarian content in it. The company had to release a statement decrying these claims and asserting that it adhered to all the demands of transparency and standards set by the government.

pic.twitter.com/9iCRhuQUbc

— Himalaya Wellness Company (@HimalayaIndia) April 1, 2022

However, now there appears to be some sort of a consensus on the arguments used in the Hindutva circles against halal products. None of the organisations are arguing that halal products necessitate the inclusion of meat in the product, there appears to have been an update in the information systems regarding the arguments used.

For instance, on the website of an organisation called Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, one is greeted with the statement, “Beware! Halal completely controls your life!” It further claims, “Halal Certification is slowly becoming all-pervasive. From food to cosmetics, from hospitals to hospitality, from clothing to housing, Halal certification is chipping away into the nation’s economy. It is a system that is dictated by a certain religion’s beliefs that has crept into India’s secular system. It is a parallel economy that has taken a giant leap to stand up and challenge the GDP of quite a few nations. It is a system that has been found complicit in terror funding.” Earlier this year in February, the HJS had even initiated a protest and submitted a memorandum to the local MLA in Dhanbad for the ban on halal goods.

These arguments are similar to what Neeraj Denoria, a Bajrang Dal associate, stated in a speech recently on November 19, in Lucknow. He parroted the same conspiracy theory, “This is an economic system created by Islamic Jihadis. It is through this, there is a parallel system run by Islamic Jihadis. This money is being spread on Love Jihad, Islamic Jihad, Ghazwa e Hind, Madarsa. I appreciate the UP CM for banning halal products.”

Thus, it can be noted that the question of Halal products has been taken up by Hindutva groups. However, this issue did not really gain any traction from the government late last month in November, when an FIR was registered at the Hazratganj Police Station based on a complaint filed by Shailendra Kumar Sharma, a Lucknow resident and office-bearer of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).

The complaint alleged the unauthorised use of “illegal halal certificates” by certain companies was used to enhance sales within “a particular community”. Sharma argues that the financial gains from such practices are being channelled to support terrorist organisations. Responding to this complaint, the police had filed charges against Halal India Pvt Ltd in Chennai, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust in New Delhi, and the Halal Council of India and Jamiat Ulema in Mumbai. The charges include multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, such as 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 298 (intent to wound religious feelings), 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), and 505 (statements that cause public mischief).

In other news, similarly, union minister Giriraj Singh has also written a letter on November 22 to the chief minister of Bihar demanding a ban on halal certificates.

Similarly, on November 18, the Uttar Pradesh government issued an order, through the Food Security and Drug Administration (FSDA), prohibiting the manufacturing, sale, storage, and distribution of specific items certified as halal. The directive also called for actions against organisations engaged in producing and selling drugs and cosmetics with halal certification.

Why has the UP government banned it?

According to Scroll.in, the UP government claims that the halal product ban is an attempt to discourage attempts to “weaken the country” by “anti-national elements” that aim to “create divisions” and create “unfair financial benefits.” The government has argued that this requirement for halal certification, is leading to people from other communities losing out in business, and thereby, to also creating a “parallel system to confuse people.”

The Uttar Pradesh government claimed that attempts to discourage the use of products without halal certificates lead to “unfair financial benefits” and also form part of a strategy to “sow class hatred, create divisions in society, and weaken the country” by “anti-national elements”, according to PTI.

Do these accusations hold ground? The accusation stands that there is a parallel economy run by the sale of halal products. So, one can safely assume this economy is sustained only by the revenue generated in the domestic sale since the UP-government’s ban is not on exports.

However, one glaring contradiction is evident: if halal products are funding Islamist or anti-national violence then why is there a ban only on the domestic flow of these goods? Should the government’s imperative not be to curb an end to even the domestic flow of these if they are being used to run an alleged parallel economy completely?

Could it be possible that this ban is not implemented on the flow of exported goods, which seems to be where the majority of such products are catered towards, because this is a conspiracy, dog whistle theory? If a ban on halal goods exports were to be implemented then that would ensure a huge loss in the revenue of large scale multinational companies, such as Adani Wilmar Ltd, Reliance Industries, Tata, Himalaya, and even Baba Ramdev’s Ramdev Food Company etc., each of whom are noted to collect halal certificates to sell their products abroad.

Furthermore, one would assume, to sustain a “parallel economy” the sale, distribution and demands of the products would be considerably large? But is that the case?

Observers suggest otherwise. Shubha Prada Nishtala, a member of the Association of Food Scientists and Technologists of India, speaking to Scroll.in, confirms that there is “no consumer asks as such for non-meat (halal) products.”

Furthermore, an official from All India Food Processors’ Association has claimed the crackdown in Uttar Pradesh was in “conflict with the Centre’s policy”. “All these halal certifying bodies are valid businesses. So how can UP say they are illegal?”

Similarly, a spokesperson for the Jamiat, who also runs a halal certification company, has stated that, as required by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry notification, they are registered with the NABCB (National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies under Quality Council of India). The team at Sabrang India has verified this: the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind Halal Trust is listed under “Product Certification Bodies” at the NABCB’s website, with a validity up to 2026 and is credited for granting certificates for halal meat.

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The post Unveiling the Alleged Link: Halal Products and Anti-National Funding appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Voters who might want to drift away, anguished by the lacklustre economic situation and poor employment record, seem never to lack a polarising issue to galvanise them in Uttar Pradesh. It began decades ago with the Ram Temple issue, but now politics is tuning into the Kashi Vishwanath temple ‘issue’.

Meat and meat consumption capture headlines regularly while few note how Uttar Pradesh has become a hub for wandering stray cattle, which are allowed to recklessly roam the streets, creating a nuisance, falling prey to passing cars, if not raiding standing crops and adding to farmers’ economic losses.

Politics related to cow slaughter and allegations of eating beef have taken many lives in Uttar Pradesh—the lynching of Akhlaq, Junaid, and Rakbar Khan, among others, sent shockwaves at regular intervals. Still, those ruling the state apparatus seem to have an appetite to repeatedly bring up the meat issue.

Uttar Pradesh has paid dearly for communal politics every time it has been raked up. So-called love jihad was drummed into such a heated political issue in the state that it culminated in the Muzaffarnagar violence of 2013.

With Adityanath Yogi as the Chief Minister since 2017, the problems of Uttar Pradesh have only grown. The frequency with which hate speeches are made, the raids on meat shops that have devastated the economy of a section of the Muslims and Dalits, and the introduction of bulldozer (in)justice—all have frightening consequences for the disadvantaged groups, and especially for the religious minorities.

Interestingly, the ban on halal-certified edible products applies only to the local market. Products meant for export have been excluded, though all meat exported to countries where halal meat is consumed requires halal certification. Halal, in Arabic, simply designates what is permissible as per Islamic religious practices. Halal certification of meat items guarantees that the animals, including poultry, were slaughtered in the prescribed Islamic way. India has no clear nationwide law or rule that requires halal meat to be sold—it has been left to individual preferences. Meat that is exported is, naturally, subject to proper checks for halal certification.

The halal trade is economically highly significant—a roughly $3.5 trillion industry—and India has benefitted vastly from the promotion of halal exports. Its significant trading partners are the Organization of Islamic Countries and South East Asian nations.

The Uttar Pradesh government has justified the ban by saying that some companies had issued “forged” halal certificates for financial gain—meaning that they did not follow the prescribed rules, but claimed they did. Surprisingly, a communal angle has been inserted into the forgery allegation by claiming that these companies cause social animosity and violate public trust. If the issue is fake halal certificates, why impose a blanket ban on domestic sales? If it is about animosity, where is the evidence?

Indeed, a more detailed presentation of the facts of this case known so far is here but was there a need to ban halal certified foods altogether? Does not the state government, along with the Centre, need to thrash out the law it wishes to prescribe, or not, in a more dignified and realistic fashion?

According to Mufti Habeeb Yusuf Qasmi, president of the Halal Council of India, the controversy over halal certification reflects the propensity to view every development from a myopic Hindu-Muslim lens. “Halal is about hygiene and purity. It is not a Hindu-Muslim matter but about food,” he said.

Indeed, while the meat trade and beef export are associated with Muslims, many prominent companies in the meat and beef trade are from the majority community—Al Kabeer Exports, one of the biggest meat exporters, is owned by Satish Sabharwal, and Sunil Kapoor owns Arabian Exports Pvt. Ltd. There are many such instances.

All in all, the ban implies that those who do wish to consume certified halal edibles—which is, of course, the Muslims—would be denied access to these items. The situation is made even more ironic when the state government sees an effort to create a market for halal-certified products as a “conspiracy”.

But in the past, the state government’s problem was also with small meat traders, many of whom are Muslims. Immediately after coming to power, the Yogi Adityanath government shut many meat shops, saying they did not have proper licenses.

In the end, the Allahabad High Court asked the Yogi Adityanath government under which provision of law were meat shops in the state capital, Lucknow, being forced to shut. It rapped the Lucknow Municipal Corporation for not having taken timely action to renew the licenses of meat shops.

Meat has become a major irritant in Uttar Pradesh—one that has repeatedly aided the Uttar Pradesh government in polarising the state’s people and politics. But the politics of the Chief Minister goes beyond food. In a very blunt fashion, he coined the ‘80-20’ term, which implied that he was not banking on getting votes from the Muslims, who are 20% of the population of Uttar Pradesh. He put forward this formulation in an advertisement in a national newspaper, the dog whistle intensifying the communal divide as expected.

He also uses the term “abba-jaan”, which means dear father in Urdu, in his speeches to humiliate the Muslim community—he actually accused the community of appropriating food grains meant for all communities. He deliberately attributed the violence in Muzaffarnagar to its Muslim residents, although numerous fact-finding reports have disclosed that the violence was orchestrated in the name of the “security of Hindu girls”.

Further, it is not in dispute that the violence led to the large-scale displacement of Muslims from Muzaffarnagar, and that the Jats in the area suffered, too, but their losses were far fewer. Yogi Adityanath recklessly targeted the Muslim residents of Kairana town when he spread myths about the forced displacement of Hindus. It turned out that 346 Hindus had migrated away from Kairana, mainly for economic reasons.

Another divisive practice introduced by the Yogi Adityanath government, which other chief ministers of BJP-ruled states have adopted, is of bulldozing residential and commercial properties, mainly of Muslims and the poor, on a variety of pretexts. After the fact, the authorities paper over their actions by making claims about having sent notices and that the bulldozed structure was illegal.

Indeed, a structure could be illegal, but are bulldozers the government’s only administrative tool against them? From recent experience, it has become evident that bulldozers are selectively used against Muslims and those the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) considers its rivals or opponents. The practice, whatever the pretexts, has devastated coexistence in Uttar Pradesh, especially its Muslim residents. That is why it has been said that “while Yogi Adityanath has called bulldozers a symbol of development and peace and a means to enforce the law, the opposition has criticised his government by calling bulldozer ‘justice’ a violation of the law”.

All in all, the ban on halal products for domestic consumption is yet another instance of the divisive policies initiated in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.

Halal certification is internationally accepted, and respecting people’s feelings is the core of a plural society. Halal products, it must be remembered, are not just meat or culinary items but an array of products and services that inform the lives of many Indian citizens. Whatever the pretext for banning halal certification, this step will worsen the communal divide already prevalent in society.

One also must understand that the BJP repeatedly needs to strengthen its divisive core, especially since the Lok Sabha election is due in a few months. The halal ban is yet another issue for the BJP to whip up in the service of sectarian politics. Food habits and personal preferences, guided by the cultural practices of any community, must be respected. What fits the bill in a plural, diverse society should not be outlawed.

Related:

UP Govt bans halal items, only allows for export

Protest against ‘Halal Certificate’ in Dhanbad latest in an effort to create another stigma & bogey

Hindu activists begin door-to-door campaign against halal products in Karnataka

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