Ban on Halal products – uttamhindu.com

Acting on the FIR lodged by Shailendra Kumar Sharma in Lucknow on November 17 against Halal certified products, the Uttar Pradesh government has banned Halal certification in the state with immediate effect. Halal certification of food, medicine and cosmetic products was being done without any authority to influence a particular community. Following the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to take strict action on certification against the rules, a notification was issued to ban Halal certified products. There is no ban on exports. Earlier, FIR was registered against the companies issuing Halal certificates. Among these, Halal India Pvt. Ltd. Chennai, Jamiat Ulema Hind Halal Trust Delhi and Lucknow, Halal Council of Mumbai and Jamiat Ulemi Mumbai and some other companies. After the ban, vendors in old Lucknow and other areas went underground. Halal marked perfumes, sugar, tea leaves, dairy products, oils, snacks, toothbrushes and toothpaste etc. were removed from the shops.

In the issued notification, it has been said that legal action will be taken against the manufacturing, storage, distribution and purchase and sale of Halal certified food items, medicines, medical supplies and cosmetics. In case of labeling of medicines, other materials used in medicine and cosmetics not as per the provisions laid down in the rules, printing wrong and misleading facts on the label, misprinting under Section 17 and Section 17C of the Medicines and Cosmetics Act, 1940. Comes in the category of. There is no provision in the Act that Halal certification should be marked on the labels of products. If any fact related to Halal certification is directly or indirectly mentioned on these items, then it will be a misrepresentation under the said Act. Manufacturing, storage, distribution, and buying and selling of such material is prohibited under Section 18 of this Act and is a punishable offense under Section 27.

There is a provision to cancel the license of the selling organization and impose life imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh for selling counterfeit goods. Halal certification is being done illegally on the labels of medicines and cosmetic products as well as Halal certified dairy products, sugar, bakery products, peppermint oil, namkeen and edible oils etc. Under the Food Law Food Safety and Standards Act-2006, the standards for food items have been set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the apex body. There is no provision for making parallel arrangements to this. Shailendra Sharma, who filed the case, says that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India does not give Halal certificate. There are some religious organizations in India that issue Halal certification to products. It is a parallel certification process running outside the purview of the respective state and national authorities. The question is, does this arrangement not weaken the certification process of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India? In a country where Hindus are in majority and there are Christians, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, then why is a particular religion allowed to run its certification business?

Now the government is asking the concerned companies on the basis of which law or rule are they issuing the certificate? Where is lab testing done to test products? Where has the lab got recognition from? The companies making money by issuing fake certificates are also accused of funding terrorist organizations conspiring against the country. Apart from the companies, a case has been filed against other unidentified persons and notified terrorist organizations involved in anti-national conspiracies. Sections of conspiracy, disturbing harmony, hurting religious sentiments, extortion, fraud, forgery etc. have been imposed.

A Special Task Force (STF) along with Uttar Pradesh Police will also investigate the sale and supply of Halal certified products. STF to investigate supply of Halal certified products in various states as well as terror funding to banned terrorist organizations PFI (Popular Front of India), SIMI (Student Islamic Movement of India) and Wahdat-e-Islami and other radical Islamic organizations. Has been installed. STF can easily raid the locations of companies in the state including Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai at any time. According to high official sources, STF is forming a separate team for this investigation. Its work will be to investigate only this matter expeditiously. Based on the investigation by police and STF, the government may deploy Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) to further investigate terror funding and links of companies with banned radical organisations.

On receiving Halal certificate, people who believe in Islam have confidence that whatever they are using is Halal i.e. legitimate. In many Islamic countries, Halal certificate is given by the governments there. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India does not provide Halal certification. About a dozen companies and institutions in India provide Halal certification so that the products can be exported to Islamic countries.

In a secular country, promoting products made by a particular class on the basis of religion is both illegal and also divides the society. The action being taken by the Uttar Pradesh government is a step taken in the interest of the state and the country. Other states and the central government should also take this matter seriously and take concrete action.