We now have a competition between satvik and halal. The Uttar Pradesh government says that Hindus have a right to know whether the food they are buying is satvik or not and that it would ensure the authenticity of satvik.
Even though there is no agreed definition among Hindus of all regions for this and certainly no official certification process, the government claims this is the reason behind asking all shopkeepers to declare their identities and also of those who work in their establishments. One fails to understand how the identity of the owners will tell you whether what they are selling is satvik or not. Let us leave it here for a moment.
The Uttar Pradesh government, and now governments in Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh, also want to ensure satvikta for Hindus. In other words, what they say they are doing is merely protecting the religious and cultural rights of Hindus.
In the same breath, however, at least the Uttar Pradesh government has declared that it will ban halal certification. No packaged item with a stamp of halal certification can be sold in Uttar Pradesh. This move makes it clear that the state government, which is taking all the steps to protect the religious rights of Hindus, is hell bent on taking away the religious and cultural rights of Muslims. Observant Muslims need to know whether the things they are using which contain animal products — cosmetics, for example — are halal or not. In other words, the requirement of halal is not necessarily limited to meat.
Before we discuss this further, let us also ask how the name of the shop owner tells us whether the items she deals in are satvik or not.It is also not known what Hindu satvik items actually are. We get Jain food in trains or planes but not Hindu or Muslim food. Is satvik food only that which does not contain onion or garlic? Is meat or fish satvik or not? What kind of meat will be considered satvik? Or are there some other restrictions? Despite all the efforts to define satvik, we cannot reach one single conclusion.
The dharmshastraas do tell us what is ‘nishiddha’( forbidden) and what not but this is highly time- and geography-dependent. There is no universal Hindu satvik food or conduct that is defined somewhere and is followed by all the Hindus across continents. As Muslims do with halal.
Since it is not known what satvik is, what can easily be done is to find who is delivering it. That is, whether the provider is ‘satvik’ or not. The question is not what will come in the kitchen and what will not, but who can come in the kitchen and who cannot.
In a TV discussion on this question, a professor of Delhi University said that in this holy month of Sawan, the devotees have the right to know whether the person from whom they are buying goods has taken his bath or not. This answer left the anchor baffled. She asked, pitying his students, how can one find out whether the Hindu shopkeeper has taken his bath. And how will it be decided that the Muslim who is sitting at the shop has come there without bathing?
The conclusion then is that what is satvik material will be decided by the nature of the person selling it. What is not important, it is who that is important. This is the root of untouchability which has always been justified by the logic of purity.
The debate on satvikta predictably turned into a debate on the conspiracy of Islamisation of the market. He said that the matter is not limited to just meat, now even things like lipstick are being labelled as halal. Even clothes and medicines. According to him, this is Islamisation of the market which needs to be stopped.
The professor is right. Satvikta has not been defined yet among Hindus. But Muslims have no dilemma about halal, which means permissible or acceptable. Therefore, it is important for observant Muslims to know whether alcohol or fat or material related to prohibited animals has been used in the manufacture or processing of medicine or cosmetics or not.
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Now, why should any Hindu object to using something which is halal for Muslims? Is what is halal for them haram for Hindus?
Halal certification protects the rights of Muslims and in no way violates the rights of Hindus. Then why oppose the halal stamp? Why ban it? Isn’t the reason for this just to deprive Muslims of their religious or cultural rights?
It is being claimed in various ways that Muslims cannot be trusted to protect satvikta for Hindus. How can one have any dealings with people one does not trust? What is being said is that the only guarantee of purity of food or any other item is to ensure that it is being sold by the right kind of person. Which means for all practical purposes that the fellow should not be a Muslim.
It is necessary to reiterate that in this whole matter, the question is not of ‘what’, the question is of ‘who’. Tell us your name so that we can decide whether to have dealings with you or not. We know what this is. It is called untouchability. We have seen people asking the name of a co-traveler and going on and on until a full name is revealed. It does not satisfy me to know that you are Ram Kumar. I need to know if you a Shah or Sahu or Singh or Yadav. Until that is revealed, the identity of the other person remains unclear and therefore suspicious. I cannot decide how to behave with you.
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Muslims name their child Vakeel, and Hindus can also bear this name. Sameer is found in both communities. Similarly Khushboo. That is why Uttar Pradesh Police is asking Vakeel to make it clear that he is Vakeel Ahmad, Khushboo is Khushboo Fatima, Sameer is Sameer Ansari.
In future, perhaps an order can also be issued that Muslims may not keep a name of their choice. It would be necessary for their Muslimness to be pronounced, so that Hindus can decide what they will do with them and when.
The Uttar Pradesh move was never about protecting the religious rights of a section of Hindus. It was about finding new ways to harass, persecute and humiliate Muslims and take away even their livelihood rights.
Apoorvanand teaches Hindi at Delhi University.
This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.
