Uttar Pradesh’s ban on food products with halal certification is meant to crack down on those who are illegally minting money in the name of halal certification, top officials in the state government told News18, questioning why vegetarian products need such certification.
The Yogi Adityanath government had on November 18 banned the production, storage, distribution and sale of food products with halal certification with immediate effect while exempting products manufactured for export.
In a statement, the state government had alleged “malicious attempts” to discourage the use of products lacking a halal certificate not only seek “unfair financial benefits” but also form part of a “pre-planned strategy to sow class hatred, create divisions in society, and weaken the country” by “anti-national elements”.
“This crackdown has nothing to do with the exporters… But this certification is unnecessary. It is hurting the sentiments of the Hindu community where even vegetarian products have this certification. Why unnecessarily pay for the certification? For example, there is no meat in sunflower oil. So why does it need halal certification?” an official told News18.
“Agencies that are unauthorised and not approved are doing this business just to make money. Halal certification is a nexus which needs to be busted by an STF-like law enforcement agency.”
The UP government statement had said strict legal measures will be taken against any individual or firm engaged in the production, storage, distribution, buying, and selling of halal-certified medicines, medical devices, and cosmetics within Uttar Pradesh.
“Unrestrained propaganda is being disseminated within a particular section of society to discourage the use of products lacking a halal certificate,” the statement said. This harms the business interests of other communities, it added.
There are also fears that the “unfair advantage” is being passed onto “anti-social or anti-national elements”, the government said. However, products manufactured for export will not be subject to the restrictions, it clarified.
According to the statement, the UP government recently received information which indicated that products such as dairy items, sugar, bakery products, peppermint oil, salty ready-to-eat beverages, and edible oils are being labelled with a halal certification.
“Additionally, certain medicines, medical devices, and cosmetic products are reported to feature the halal certificate on their packaging or labelling,” the statement said.
“However, there are no provisions for marking halal certification on labels in the government rules related to drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics, nor is there any mention of halal certification in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and its related rules… Any direct or indirect mention of halal certification on the labels of medicines, medical devices, or cosmetics constitutes falsification under the said Act, making it a punishable offence,” it said.
An FIR on the matter has also been also registered in Lucknow Commissionerate last Friday.
Entities such as Halal India Private Limited Chennai, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust Delhi, Halal Council of India Mumbai, Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra, and others have exploited religious sentiments to boost sales by providing halal certificates to customers of a specific religion, the government said citing the FIR.
In a statement, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust termed the allegations as “baseless” and said it will take “necessary legal measures to counter such misinformation”.
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