Restaurants and shops in north Delhi serving or selling non-vegetarian food or meat, will now have to "mandatorily" display whether it is halal or jhatka meat as the BJP-led North Delhi Municipal Corporation on Tuesday cleared a proposal in this regard, its mayor said.
The proposal was passed by the Standing Committee of NDMC. The proposal said that 90% of the restaurants and shops that operate in the 104 wards under the north civic body serve meat, but many do not display whether it is halal or jhatka
The House "cleared the proposal in its meeting today", said North Delhi Mayor Jai Prakash.
"So, restaurants and shops in north Delhi will now have to mandatorily display whether the meat being sold or served is halal or jhatka," he said.
'Jhatka' is a method in which an animal is slaughtered in one go, while in the 'halal' method, by the Quranic guidelines derived from the teachings of Prophet Muhammad an animal is allowed to die after cutting a vein.
“According to Hinduism and Sikhism, eating halal meat is forbidden and against religion. Therefore, this meeting resolves that this direction be given to restaurants and meat shops that it should be written mandatorily about the meat being sold and served by them that jhatka or halal meat is available here,” the proposal stated.
North Delhi has several eateries, restaurants and streetside shops selling or serving non-vegetarian food dishes, notably in Chandni Chowk, Daryaganj and Kashmere Gate.
In late January, a similar motion was cleared by the House of the BJP-led South Delhi Municipal Corporation.
People have different food choices but one cannot tell the kind of meat being served in the restaurants. “Halal or jhatka meat can be seen written on the meat shops but such a practice is seldom seen in restaurants,” the North Delhi mayor added.
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He said, “So it is a healthy exercise to mention that halal or jhatka meat food is being served at the restaurants. The proposal has been approved keeping people’s sentiments in mind and there is no other reason behind it.”
After the South Delhi Municipal Corporation passed the directive, restaurants had urged the civic body to withdraw its order as they are already dealing with the coronavirus crisis and its economic impact.