A bakery at Kurumassery in Kerala’s Ernakulam district was forced to remove a sticker notifying the availability of halal food after it was issued a notice by the Hindu Aikya Vedi (Hindu United Front). The organisation alleged that it amounted to discrimination of food based on religion.
The bakery ‘Mody’, opened a month ago at Kurumassery’s Parakkadavu block, was issued a notice by the organisation on December 28.
“The sticker should be removed within seven days of the notice, and such discriminatory descriptions should be avoided from future advertisements. If failed to do so, the organisation will be forced to boycott the shop and launch protests,” the notice read.
The bakery immediately removed the sticker on receiving the notice.
“The panchayat does not have enough members of the community to warrant publicising ‘halal’ food. Those who need it will ask, and there is no need for such a notification,” Aravind was quoted as saying.
The Panchayat president T. V. Pratheesh from the Left Democratic Front said the incident had not been brought to their notice earlier. He called the Hindu organisation’s demand to remove the sticker ‘unacceptable’ and assured looking further into the matter.
A source at the shop told the media that the availability of ‘halal’ food was one of their attractions. The bakery did not cater to residents alone but passers-by as well, The Hindu quoted him as saying.
