Days after a tender notice was published in the local classified section of newspapers where Welham Boys School invited bids for supplying Halal meat and poultry products, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed by the Hindu rights group Bajrang Dal with the Uttarkhand police on Tuesday (July 1).
While speaking to Opindia, the Convenor of Bajrang Dal (Dehradun) Vikas Verma said, “Aaj satya ki jeet hui hai. Hum is ladai ko tab tak jaari rakhenge jab tak hum halal ke naam par ho rahe atyachar ka ant nahi kar dete. (It has been the victory of truth today. We will continue this fight until the monopoly of ‘Halal’ completely ends).”
Earlier, the police did not lodge an FIR and it was only on Friday evening that the case was registered. The cops have now pressed charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 505-2 (Statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred, or ill will between classes).
The Halal Meat controversy
Activists, belonging to the Dehradun chapter of Bajrang Dal, protested outside the premises of Welham Boys School after the prominent boarding institution floated a tender on June 26 for halal meat and poultry products. The Hindu rights group had filed a complaint at Dalanwala Police station and wrote to CM, Uttarakhand as well. In the complaint, the organization said that there are students from every community in the school.
“The tender for Halal meat is an insult to Hindu students and community. With this complaint, we would like to bring the matter to your notice and urge you to take immediate action to recall the tender,” it said. The organization further said that in case the administration and Police fail to take any action against the school, they will take the matter to the roads and call for protests across the city.
Bajrang Dal said when they approached the school administration about the tender, they informed the organization members that the school serves both Halal and Jhatka meat at school on a daily basis. “However, when we asked for documentation for any tender they had flouted in the past calling for bids for Jhatka meat, no one in school administration was able to provide any documents.”
