Nitesh Rane, Minister of Ports Development of Maharashtra, announced a new initiative on 10th March to register all Jhatka mutton businesses in the state under the recently introduced Malhar certificate, with a focus on the fact that they will only be operated by Hindus. The Malhar certification is akin to India’s current halal certification, which is granted for meat processed in accordance with Sharia or Islamic law.
Rane added that Hindus from the Khatik group will be the only ones operating MalharCertification.com, a site for Jhatka meat producers.
“Today we have taken an important step for the Hindu community from Maharashtra. This is being brought for Hindu community, through which Hindus will get access to mutton shops selling Jhatka mutton for Hindus,” Minister Rane remarked. He also advised Hindus to avoid purchasing mutton from stores that lack Malhar certification.
“This Malhar certification should be used more and more and Hindus should not buy mutton from shops without Malhar certification. This is what I appeal to people. Jai Shri Ram,” the minister added.
आज मल्हार सर्टिफाइड झटका मांस
— Nitesh Rane (@NiteshNRane) March 10, 2025
आज आम्ही महाराष्ट्रातल्या हिंदू समाजासाठी अतिशय महत्त्वाचे पाऊल उचलले आहे. मल्हार सर्टिफिकेशन डॉट कॉम(https://t.co/fQAwGvAdca) या निमित्ताने सुरू झालेलं आहे. मल्हार सर्टिफिकेशनच्या माध्यमातून आपल्याला आपल्या हक्काची मटण दुकानं उपलब्ध होतील व १००… pic.twitter.com/u0zdi2rjBt
The website said, “Malhar is a certified platform for Jhatka mutton and chicken vendors. It ensures that goat and sheep meat, sacrificed according to Hindu religious traditions, is fresh, clean, free from saliva contamination, and not mixed with any other animal meat. This meat is available exclusively through Hindu Khatik community vendors. Therefore, we encourage everyone to purchase mutton only from vendors certified by Malhar.” According to the website, their meat is “fresh, clean, free from saliva contamination, and not mixed with any other animal meat.”
OpIndia had explained earlier how the whole idea of Halal certification is discriminatory towards other communities. For a meat product to be halal, the animal must be slaughtered only by a Muslim. In order to achieve economies of scale, the meat industry ends up operating large-scale abattoirs to produce all their meat. They end up using only Muslims at these abattoirs as it has simply become cheaper to produce all their meat together, instead of running separate abattoirs for halal and non-halal meat. In such a scenario, many Hindu communities, especially some Dalits, who were traditionally butchers, miss out on employment opportunities in the sector. Considering the meat industry is worth several Billion dollars, this is a huge sector where only people from one religion are finding jobs because of halal policies.
Most businesses have started serving only halal meat now to save the cost of maintaining 2 supply chains, for halal and non-halal meat. People who may not be comfortable with halal meat, or for people with religions where only jhatka meat is allowed, no longer have any choice in the matter. If they are ordering meat at a restaurant, they get halal only by default.
Pharmaceutical products, personal care products, cosmetics, and even flour, all come with halal certification now. With its ever-growing scope, it is creating the grounds for restricting the job prospects in these sectors to people from only one religion. Further, this parallel system of certification runs without any checks and balances from the government.
Furthermore, halal is not just limited to non-vegetarian goods as it also includes cosmetics, non-meat foods and other fast-moving consumer goods. To summarise, halal imposes a religious belief on non-followers too. Halal certification thus encourages a parallel economy. In a secular country like India, where over 80% of the population is Hindu, and where numerous religious beliefs thrive along with several cultures, the very idea of Halal economy is outrageous.
