Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh on Sunday said Hindus should give up eating halal meat and consume only 'jhatka', the flesh of animals slaughtered by a single blow of the blade.
Singh, a senior BJP leader, made a plea to the effect in his Begusarai parliamentary constituency where he also made his supporters take the pledge that they will henceforth not spoil their 'dharma' by eating halal meat.
Talking to reporters, he said, "I admire the Muslims who make it a point to consume only halal meat. Now Hindus should demonstrate a similar commitment to their own religious traditions." "The Hindu way of slaughter is jhatka. Whenever Hindus perform 'bali' (animal sacrifice), they do so in a single stroke. As such, they must not corrupt themselves by eating halal meat. They must always stick to jhatka," said Singh.
He also stressed on the need for a new business model in which there would be abattoirs and shops selling only jhatka meat.
Notably, a few weeks ago, Singh had also written a letter to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to ban the sale of food products labelled as "halal", drawing inspiration from the Yogi Adityanath government in adjoining Uttar Pradesh.
Replying to another query, the Union minister taunted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for coming out with a "delayed" response to the recent security breach in Parliament.
The BJP leader, however, slammed Gandhi for linking the breach to unemployment and price rise, issues that the persons who entered the premises carrying smoke canisters had sought to highlight.
"It is not the first time that Rahul Gandhi has expressed sympathy towards the 'tukde tukde' gang. On an earlier occasion, he had expressed solidarity with those who raised seditious slogans inside the JNU campus," Singh claimed.
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