ABGP Tamilnadu raises deep disappointment that Indian Railways is serving ‘halal tea’ to its passengers, as was revealed in a viral video.
1 We object strongly because:
- It is discriminatory on religious grounds. Only the followers of one specific religion require their food to be halal compliant. There is no legal, ethical, cultural, or economic reason why a massive government entity like the Indian Railways is complying with the dictates of one religion and not others in India. It hurts the sentiments of all communities except one.
- It amounts to a religious fee or tax on all religions except one, as Indian Railways pays for the cost of halal-certified goods that it passes on to all its customers even though their faith does not require this practise. We object to even one paisa of ours subsidizing and enriching another faith.
- It restricts employment opportunities in the halal process to followers of only one religion.
We do not know if Indian Railways serves only halal meat to its customers. If so, please note that we consider halal meat cruel as it involves cutting the throats of birds and animals and letting them slowly bleed to death. In contrast, the Jhatka method is a quick, clean, painless, and humane way of dispatching animals and birds. We demand that Indian Railways, with immediate effect:
- Stop serving any halal-certified food product except to those who specifically ask for it, who should pay extra for it.
- Offer certified non-halal food to its passengers, vegetarian and non-vegetarian. These products should be certified Jhatka for meat and Satvik for vegetarian items.
- Publicly list all halal-certified food items served on Indian Railways.
We look forward to your public response in 30 days. Thank you for introducing the Vande Bharat trains, other improvements, and your leadership during the Balasore train crash.
Serving Halal food in Aircraft
We, ABGP Tamilnadu, representing the below-mentioned Hindu organizations worldwide, write this open letter to you with deeply ambivalent feelings.
While delighted at Air India’s privatization and its massive order of 500 Boeing and Air Bus jets, which are undoubtedly the harbingers of Air India’s return to the world’s skies with its legendary service, we are appalled at your airline’s practice of serving only halal meat to all your passengers. This is blatant religious, economic, and cultural discrimination towards Hindus.
Specifically:
First, halal meat is a religious mandate for followers of one faith. However, as Hindus, we are
convinced that halal meat is cruel. Commonsensically, it can hardly be otherwise, given its compulsory method of not stunning the bird or animal and letting it bleed to a slow, agonizing death.
Here one can make a fair argument that India invented and gifted the philosophy and practice of vegetarianism to the world due to the deep consciousness in the Sanatani mind of the sanctity of all life, including in the animal world. As a result, while millions of Indians are vegetarian, an equal number of Hindus nevertheless eat meat but are affected by our ancient religious and cultural ethos and want cruelty-free meat. You might recall Gandhi’s words, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Halal meat fails this test using Gandhi’s words as a criterion.
Hence, we Hindus and Sikhs require cruelty-free meat in all Air India’s flights obtained through the Jhatka method, a religious mandate for us. This is a quick, clean, and painless way of dispatching an animal or a bird. Hence, we demand the immediate introduction of such meat on all Air India flights that is specifically labeled ‘Jhatka meat’ or, if that cannot be procured, certified ‘non-halal meat.’ We also demand that no vegetarian items that have been certified as halal are offered to Air India’s passengers who are vegetarians.
Second, economically Halal meat is discriminatory as it allows only followers of one faith to obtain employment in the meat trade. It amounts to a religious tax on all religions except one, as Air India’s fees to its halal meat suppliers are obviously passed on to all its customers. We object to even one cent of our ticket money subsidizing another faith as it is tantamount to elevating one religion over the Hindu and Sikh faith.
If you think we are unreasonable, introduce non-halal meat on all your flights and watch what
happens. Furthermore, imagine the global scandal and uproar if Air India hypothetically paid some fees, no matter how small, to a purely Hindu organization for a strictly Hindu religious objective and passed on that fee to all passengers, including non-Hindus. Top management heads would roll.
We pre-emptively reject all counterarguments such as “there is insufficient demand for non-halal meat from Air India’s non-Muslim passengers,”; “Hindus don’t care what they eat,”; “those who don’t want to eat halal meat can eat vegetarian food,”; “it does not make economic sense”; “halal meat is healthier”; “it is the global airline standard to serve halal to all,” and that demanding non-halal meat is “phobia” towards the followers of one faith. These are all straw-man arguments. Our demand is simple and non-negotiable. We, as Hindus, demand the choice of cruelty-free Jhatka meat on Air India flights.
Let us make you a business-savvy, win-win suggestion. You are aware the sizable global and
well-to-do Hindu diaspora has plenty of choices for air travel to India, which are only increasing.
Specifically, as Air India is planning and anticipating a massive increase in its passenger volume, of which the vast majority will be Hindus if you immediately start and become a pioneer in offering non-halal meat in your flights, you will win the affection of millions of flying Hindus and contribute to a healthier bottom line. What better way to increase your profits than to offer non-halal meat to Hindus? We suggest that non-Indian airlines also introduce non-halal meat in their flights for the same reasons. May the airline nimblest on its business feet win Hindu business.
Our aim in writing to Air India is to elevate our demands and concerns to the authorities in India and the international community. There is rising global concern about halal certification’s true nature and objectives. There have been disturbing media reports recently on people spitting to render food halal.1 While separate and substantial, our letter cannot be entirely unmindful of these anxieties.
We request your public reply to this letter in one month in any Indian newspaper of repute. Be assured we will not let this issue lapse.
We wish Air India all the best for its ambitious plans for expansion and look forward to the salad days when the Maharaja ruled the skies.
M.N.SUNDAR, Southern states organising secretary,ABGP.
