"Ahead of Christmas, Christians in Kerala decide to boycott Halal meat; Hindu groups extend support"- was the headline of a story published three days ago by a media organisation. So have Christians in Kerala called for a boycott of Halal meat? No, they have not. In fact, top authorities of various churches have clarified that the call to boycott Halal meat in Kerala before Christmas is not a decision of the church. It was called by a small group called CASA (Christian Association and Alliance for Social Action), which is not affiliated to the church.
So who called for a boycott? It was called for by members of a group called CASA, the Christian Association and Alliance for Social Action which is entirely independent of the church. This group is a smaller organisation and different from CASA (Church's Auxiliary for Social Action) which is a humanitarian and development arm of 24 Protestant and Orthodox churches in India. Sources told TNM that the CASA which has called for the ban has affiliations to the minority wing of the BJP. The group is having discussions internally on whether to hold a three-day protest against Halal meat in the state before Christmas day.
“This is not an official decision of the church. Neither has CASA consulted us before calling for this boycott, nor have we spoken to CASA’s members. Further, the church will never make policy decisions on personal subjects. We have not issued any statement and we are not endorsing this boycott,” Father Jacob Palackapilly, Spokesperson of the Kerala Catholic Bishop’s Council or KCBC told TNM.
Father Abraham Kavilpurayidom, Diocesan Chancellor of the Syro Malabar Church in Kerala added that it ‘is not the church’s prerogative to decide for believers what to eat and what not to eat’.
“It is an individual's choice to eat whatever they wish to. Even during lent, the church only advises believers to avoid eating certain foods such as meat in order to adhere to the canonical laws. However, we do not force believers to do this. Independent groups may be undertaking such programs, but it is not with the knowledge of the church. Neither does the church endorse or support such boycotts,” he added.
According to Kerala General Secretary of CASA, Joy Abraham, the organisation consists of Christians from all denominations and is mostly made up of young believers.
“The idea was sparked after a concern about the beliefs of the Christian community. Halal is a ‘religious product’ of Islam and a meat is Halal only when the animal is slaughtered by a person from the religious community. At the time of slaughter, there are certain rites and prayers from the religion which is uttered. There were discussions over whether such ‘dedications’ to another god are acceptable in Christian beliefs. So this time, we have decided to refrain from buying Halal meat for Christmas,” Joy Abraham told TNM.
Although CASA members insist that the boycott is not an attempt to discriminate against Muslims or communalise a festival, a Whatsapp forward on the same clearly suggests otherwise. The forward asked why ‘non-Muslims are forced to eat Halal products’ and ‘why Islamic traditions are being forced upon non-Muslims’? The forward also included misleading and bigoted hashtags such as ‘SayNoToHalal’, ‘Say No to Love Jihad’, ‘Say No to Trade Jihad’, ‘Say No To Food Jihad’ and ‘Say No To Islamization’.
Even the Orthodox Church has distanced itself from the boycott. “There has been no statement, proclamation or episcopal instruction from the Orthodox church asking people to not eat Halal meat. The church is not endorsing any boycott of this sort. It is individual prerogative to choose what to eat. We consume all kinds of meat, including Halal,” PRO of the Orthodox Church in Kerala told TNM.
The scale of CASA’s boycott is yet unknown and it is unclear whether meat shops in Kerala run by members of the Muslim community would be affected, as Christmas is a busy season with meat shops seeing high volume of sales.
According to the news report mentioned above, the Indian Union Muslim League or IUML opposed CASA’s boycott, stating that such anti-Halal campaigns were an attempt to create a communal division and ‘boycott Muslim meatshops’.
Halal in Arabic means ‘allowed’ or ‘permitted’ and is a dietary standard prescribed by the Holy Quran. The Halal form of slaughter is prescribed by Islamic law and all halal certified meat is slaughtered in this manner.
Editor's note: The original story stated that the organisation that called for the ban, is CASA, Church's Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA). It should have read the Christian Association and Alliance for Social Action. We regret the error and apologise for the same.