Bengaluru: In the wake of certain right wing groups’ demand to ban on halal meat products in the state, a petitioner has approached the Karnataka High Court with a plea against any possible ban and ‘provocative’ statements by leaders.
Pressing for an urgent hearing, lawyer Rehmatullah Kotwal, has filed the plea. However, refusing to hear the matter urgently, the High Court has said it will hear the case as per the list.
Meanwhile, Karnataka BJP Chief Naleen Kumar Kateel has hinted at a ‘legal solution’ to the Halal row. He is quoted to have said, “We will give a legal solution to Halal controversy. When Hijab controversy had erupted we had given a legal solution similarly we will do it for this”.
The right wing groups have now raked up halal cut issue, after the hijab row and a call ‘against Muslim merchants in temple fairs’.
The Hindu Jagruthi Samithi, Srirama Sene, Bajrang Dal and other right wing groups have started a social media campaign asking to boycott purchase of meat from traders selling halal meat in the state. They have called for removal of halal certification from the sign boards of meat selling shops.
There have also been unproven claims of the money spent on halal meat being used for ‘wrong reasons’ and an ‘economic jihad’ behind the practice.
While the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists have also started distributing pamphlets to buy meat only from Hindu sellers, in Mysuru district, Jana Jagruthi Samithi has made a submission to district authorities to ban halal products.
Calling for a boycott of halal meat Hindu Janajagruti Samiti spokesperson Mohan Gowda in a statement said that crores of rupees were being collected over certifying meat as halal and that it would pave the way for India to become an Islamic state.
Meanwhile, former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy criticised the Hindu activists for seeking a ban on Muslim merchants and halal meat. He asked the farmers in the rural areas of the state not to encourage the Hindutva activists. Instigating the state CM, Kumaraswamy said that if he has ‘mardaangi’ (manliness), he would not sit quiet, but take action.
