Union Minister and Begusarai MP Giriraj Singh said on Friday that he wanted Hindus in all small and big districts to buy food items, keeping in mind their religion and culture, even if it is jhatka meat. Recently, Giriraj Singh had posted on X (formerly Twitter) about a shop of ‘Giriraj Amar Jhatka Meat’. Since then, he has made quite a few food advocacy statements.
The BJP MP said, “If I propagate my religion, what is wrong in it? When Muslims propagate their religion, it does not cause any earthquake.”
“When Asaduddin Owaisi propagates his religion, it does not create any upheaval. When he propagates his religion and talks about uniting Muslims, there is no uproar. But if I tell Hindus that if you want to eat meat, then eat it, but eat it according to your religion… consume jhatka if you’re non-vegetarian,” Singh insisted.
The senior BJP leader further said, “If you ask a Muslim to eat jhatka meat, he will not eat it. This is a good thing; They follow their religion. So I take a leaf out of their book, I tell my Hindu brothers if they want to eat meat, ‘go ahead’, but our religion prescribes jhatka, not halal. Eat jhatka meat.
“I wish Hindus in small and big cities of the country should buy food items as per their religion, including jhatka meat for non-vegetarians,” Singh added.
Hindu jhatka versus Jewish kosher, Islamic halal
Jhatka is the meat from an animal killed by a single strike of an implement for slaughter to sever the head, which kills the animal almost instantly as opposed to other forms of slaughter. This type of slaughter is preferred by Sikhs and non-vegetarian Buddhists and Hindus, especially Rajputs and Bengalis.
In this method of butchering, the animal must not be scared or shaken before the slaughter.
The official Khalsa Code of Conduct as well as the Sikh Rehat Maryada forbid kutha meat. Sikhs are recommended jhatka.
In contrast, the kosher and halal methods like Shechita and Dhabihah respectively, the animal is slaughtered by one swift, uninterrupted cut severing the trachea, oesophagus, carotid arteries, jugular veins and vagus nerves, leaving the spinal cord intact. This is followed by a short period where the blood of the animal is drained out.
Jhatka involves a swift uninterrupted cut that severs the head and the spine. In both shechita and dhabihah, a prayer to God is required at the start of the slaughtering process. In shechita one prayer is sufficient for the slaughter of multiple animals, so long as there is no interruption between them whereas in dhabihah, a separate prayer is required before each animal is slaughtered.
The Jewish or Islamic prayer, however, fails the jhatka standard.
