Campaign against Halal products in Karnataka will hurt India’s capability to attract investment
There are a zillion problems India faces—the problems like air, water, and land pollution, rampant poverty, hunger, child wasting, gender discrimination, unemployment, and endless is the list. These are the problems that affect all of us—Hindus and Muslims, the young and the old, men, women and children. Saffron activists, however, don’t find anything amiss in the country unless it has something to do with Muslims. Not content with looking for shivlings in mosques and thrashing Muslims on suspicion of cow slaughter, they have now launched a campaign against Halal products during the Deepavali season in Karnataka. According to a news report, the activists of these “fringe outfits” held demonstrations at KFC and McDonald’s outlets demanding that they should not serve Halal certified meat to non-Muslims. In short, they have decided to champion the cause of non-Muslims—except that most non-Muslims don’t identify themselves with the phony cause in the first place. Hindu Janajagruthi Samithi spokesperson Mohan Gowda told a news agency that the drive has begun in Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra and Sriram Sena, another saffron outfit, has also joined it. “McDonald and KFC are serving only Halal certified meat. Compelling Hindus to eat Halal meat is against the Hindu faith.” Gowda said. As if KFC and McDonald’s hold a gun to the heads of their customers to eat their chicken products!
Do these saffron organisations, and their political masters in the Bharatiya Janata Party, believe that their actions will have no undesirable consequences? Communal polarisation may help them in electoral terms. Perhaps, the BJP is worried about the Assembly poll in Karnataka next year; cognisant of crowds Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra has been drawing, it may want the communal issues high on the election agenda. But what about the other agenda, that of economic development and business promotion, of attracting investment and creating employment? What kind of impact such bigoted campaigns will have on the food and beverages sector in particular and tourism in general? According to the India Brand Equity Foundation, a trust established by the Government, the food and beverages industry accounts for around 3 per cent of India’s GDP and is the single largest employer in the country, with more than 7.3 million workforce. The IBEF website says, “Services will grow to become more personalised and customer-centric, creative service offerings will be launched, health and safety will be standardised…” Are Hindu Janajagruthi Samithi and Sriram Sena part of the endeavours to make the food and beverages sector more personalised? Would hooliganism targeting Muslims help boost medical tourism? Many people from Muslim countries come to India for medical treatment. How would they view the anti-Halal campaign? It is time the BJP got serious about the misdemeanours of its auxiliary forces and checked their lawlessness.