Jhatka

Jhatka(Punjabi:ਝਟਕਾ,romanized:jhaṭkā) is the meat from an animal killed by a single strike of a sword or axe tosever the headwithin theDharmic Sikhreligion, which kills the animal almost instantly as opposed to other forms of slaughter. This type of slaughter is preferred by most meat-consumingSikhs.Also within this method of butchering the animal must not be scared or shaken before the slaughter but given a dignified painless death.

Etymology

The Punjabi wordJhatkais derived from the Sanskrit termjhatitiwhich means "instantly" or "at once".^[1]^[2]

Importance in Sikhism

Although not all Sikhs maintain the practice of eating meat butchered in this style, it is well known by most Sikhs to have been mandated by the ten Sikh Gurus:

According to the Sikh tradition, only such meat as is obtained from an animal which is killed with one stroke of the weapon causing instant death is fit for human consumption.Guru Gobind Singhtook a rather serious view of this aspect of the whole matter. He, therefore, while permitting flesh to be taken as food repudiated the whole theory of this expiatory sacrifice. Accordingly, he made jhatka meat obligatory for those Sikhs who may be interested in taking meat as a part of their food.
— HS Singha,Sikhism, A Complete Introduction^[3]^[4]^[5]

As stated in the officialKhalsa Code of Conductas well as theSikh Rehat Maryada,Kutha meatis forbidden, and Sikhs are recommended to eat the jhatka form of meat.^[6]^[7]

Jhatka karnaorjhatkaundrefers to the instant severing of the head of an animal with a single stroke of anyweapon,with the underlying intention of killing the animal whilst causing it minimal suffering.^[2]

During theBritish Raj,the Sikhs began to assert their right to slaughter through Jhatka.^[4]When jhatka meat was not allowed in jails, and Sikhs detained for their part in theAkali movementto resort to violence and agitations to secure this right. Among the terms in the settlement between theAkalisand theMuslim Unionist governmentinPunjabin 1942 was that jhatka meat be continued by Sikhs.

On religious Sikh festivals, includingHola MohallaandVaisakhi,at theHazur Sahib Nanded,and many other Sikh Gurdwaras, jhatka meat is offered as "mahaprasad" to all visitors in a Gurdwara.^[8]This practice is considered to be unacceptable by modern Sikh sects who believe onlylacto-vegetarian langaris supposed to be served inside gurudwaras after the introduction of Colonial-era "Mahants" and "Udasis"into Sikh Gurdwaras.^[8]

Opposition

Some Sikh organizations, such as theAkhand Kirtani Jatha,have their own codes of conduct regarding meat consumption. These organizations define kutha meat as any type of slaughtered meat, and eating meat of any type is forbidden aside from that which is slaughtered on religious festivals and individual "Akhand paht" three-day prayers.^[9]

In early 1987Kharkusissued a moral code banning the sale and consumption of meat and for jhatka shops to be closed. The ban led to much of Punjab being without meat and the closing of jhatka shops. Those who continued to sell or eat meat risked death and commonly would have their businesses destroyed and be killed. One survey found that there were no meat or tobacco shops betweenAmritsarandPhagwara.In the peak of the militancy, most of Punjab was meatless. Famous restaurants that served meat had removed it from their menu and denied ever serving it. The ban was popular among rural Sikhs. Kharkus justified the ban by saying, "Noavatars,Hindu or Sikh, ever did these things. To eat meat is the job ofrakshasas(demons) and we don't want people to becomerakshasas."^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]

Comparison with Kosher and Halal methods

Both methods use sharp knives. In thekosherandhalalmethods,ShechitaandDhabihahrespectively, the animal is slaughtered by one swift, uninterrupted cut severing the trachea, esophagus, carotid arteries, jugular veins, and vagus nerves, leaving the spinal cord intact, followed by a period where the blood of the animal is drained out.^[14]^[15]In the Jhatka method, a swift uninterrupted cut severs the head and the spine.^[14]^[15]In both Shechita and Dhabihah, a prayer to God is required at the start of the slaughtering process. In Shechita one prayer is sufficient for the slaughter of multiple animals, so long as there is no interruption between them; in Dhabihah a separate prayer is required before each animal is slaughtered.^[15]This prayer, however, makes the meat not meeting the requirement of jhatka.

Terminology for non-jhatkaproducts

Slaughter by means such askosher,halalandbalidoes not meet the requirements ofjhatkaand the products of it are referred to askuthameat – abstention from which is one of the requirements for a Sikh to be an initiatedKhalsaorsahajdhariaccording to theRehat Maryada(Sikh code of conduct).^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19]

In Sikhism, there are three objections to non-jhatkaorkuthaproducts: the first being the belief that sacrificing an animal in the name of God is ritualism and something to be avoided; the second being the belief that killing an animal with a slow bleeding method is inhumane; and the third being historic opposition of the right of ruling Muslims to impose its practices on non-Muslims.^[20]However,kuthameat doesn't include justHalalorKoshermeat but any meat produced by slow bleeding or the perceived religious sacrifice of animals, including meat from animals slaughtered ritualistically inHinduism,for instance.^[21]^[22]

Availability

In Ajmer (Rajasthan, India), there are many jhatka shops, with various bylaws requiring shops to display clearly that they sell jhatka meat.^[23]

By contrast there is no rule to affix board marking shops sellingHalal meat.

In the past, there has been little availability of jhatka meat in the United Kingdom, so people have found themselves eating other types of meat,^[24]although jhatka has become more widely available.^[25]

References

^"Jhatiti, Jhaṭiti: 10 definitions".www.wisdomlib.org.24 March 2019.Retrieved10 November2022.
^^a ^bPaul Fieldhouse (2017).Food, Feasts, and Faith: An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions.ABC-CLIO. pp. 30–31.ISBN 978-1-61069-412-4.,Quote:"Jhatka, which comes from the Sanskrit wordjhatitimeaning "at once", is a method of slaughter in which a single rapid jerk or blow to the head is believed to produce the least amount of suffering for the animal. (...) Unlike in Islam, there is no religious ritual that accompanies the killing. "
^HS Singha (2009), Sikhism: A Complete Introduction, Hemkunt Press,ISBN 978-8170102458,pages 81-82
^^a ^bSkoda, Uwe; Lettmann, Birgit (October 30, 2017).India and Its Visual Cultures: Community, Class and Gender in a Symbolic Landscape.SAGE Publishing India.ISBN 9789386446695– via Google Books.
^Chandar, Y. Udaya (2020-02-25).The Strange Compatriots for Over a Thousand Years.Notion Press.ISBN 978-1-64760-859-0.
^Singh, I. J., Sikhs and SikhismISBN 81-7304-058-3"And one Semitic practice clearly rejected in the Sikh code of conduct is eating flesh of an animal cooked in ritualistic manner; this would mean kosher and halal meat. The reason again does not lie in religious tenet but in the view that killing an animal with a prayer is not going to ennoble the flesh. No ritual, whoever conducts it, is going to do any good either to the animal or to the diner. Let man do what he must to assuage his hunger. If what he gets, he puts to good use and shares with the needy, then it is well used and well spent, otherwise not."
^Mini Encyclopaedia of Sikhism by H.S. Singha, Hemkunt Press, Delhi.ISBN 81-7010-200-6"The practice of the Gurus is uncertain. Guru Nanak seems to have eaten venison or goat, depending upon differentJanamsakhiversions of a meal which he cooked at Kurukshetra which evoked the criticism of Brahmins. Guru Amardas ate only rice and lentils but this abstention cannot be regarded as evidence of vegetarianism, only of simple living. Guru Gobind Singh also permitted the eating of meat but he prescribed that it should be jhatka meat and never Halal meat that is in the Muslim fashion. "
^^a ^b"The most special occasion of the Chhauni is the festival of Diwali which is celebrated for ten days. This is the only Sikh shrine at Amritsar where Maha Prasad (meat) is served on special occasions in Langar",The Sikh review, Volume 35, Issue 409 - Volume 36, Issue 420, Sikh Cultural Centre, 1988
^Spirit, Khalsa."Khalsa Rehat".KhalsaSpirit.com.Archived fromthe originalon 6 March 2016.Retrieved13 March2016.
^"AISSF forces shopkeepers to shut liquor and meat shops in Punjab".India Today.30 April 1987.Retrieved2023-09-14.
^"Sikh militants in Punjab, putting a moral edge on... - UPI Archives".UPI.Retrieved2023-05-21.
^Chima, Jugdep S. (2010-03-11).The Sikh Separatist Insurgency in India: Political Leadership and Ethnonationalist Movements.SAGE Publishing India.ISBN 978-93-5150-953-0.
^Fazal, Tanweer (2014-08-01).Nation-state and Minority Rights in India: Comparative Perspectives on Muslim and Sikh Identities.Routledge.ISBN 978-1-317-75178-6.
^^a ^bNeville Gregory and Temple Grandin (2007), Animal Welfare and Meat Production, CABI,ISBN 978-1845932152,pages 207-208
^^a ^b ^cAmy J Fitzgerald (2015), Animals as Food, Michigan State University Press,ISBN 978-1611861747
^Opinderjit Kaur Takhar (2016).Sikh Identity: An Exploration of Groups Among Sikhs.Taylor & Francis. pp. 38–39.ISBN 978-1-351-90010-2.
^Karen Pechilis; Selva J. Raj (2013).South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today.Routledge. p. 242.ISBN 978-0-415-44851-2.The Sikh Rahit Maryada forbids hair cutting, adultery, the use of intoxicants, and the eating of kutha meat, or meat of an animal or fowl slaughtered slowly.
^Pashaura Singh (2013). Karen Pechilis; Selva Raj (eds.).South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today.Routledge. p. 242.ISBN 978-0-415-44851-2.,Quote: "The Sikh Rahit Maryada forbids hair cutting, adultery, the use of intoxicants, and the eating of Kutha meat, that is Muslim halal meat, obtained through the slow bleeding or religious sacrifice of animals".
^Jamie S. Scott (2012).The Religions of Canadians.University of Toronto Press. p. 320.ISBN 978-1-4426-0516-9.
^Singha, Dr. H.S. (30 May 2009)."7 Sikh Traditions and Customs".Sikhism: A Complete Introduction.Sikh Studies. Vol. Book 7 (Paperback ed.). New Delhi: Hemkunt Press. p. 81.ISBN 978-81-7010-245-8.Retrieved25 November2010.
^Aditya Menon (14 May 2020)."Why Hindutva Outfits Are Calling for a Boycott of Halal Products".The Quint.Retrieved23 October2021.
^Mukhopadhyay, K. (2020).Food and Power: Expressions of Food-Politics in South Asia.SAGE Publications. p. 240.ISBN 978-93-5388-377-5.Retrieved2022-06-10.mostly practised in Shakti cult, while Puranas and the Gita forbid animal sacrifice.
^Order No. Tax/F.15(25)DLB/63Published in the Govt. Gazette on 13-02-1965 (Part 6)
^Sikh women in England: their religious and cultural beliefs and social practicesBy S. K. Rait, p. 63 Trentham Books, 2005ISBN 1-85856-353-4
^Food safety and quality assurance: foods of animal originBy William T. Hubbert, Page 254 Wiley-Blackwell, 1996ISBN 0-8138-0714-X

External links

The Politics of Sikh Identity: Understanding Religious Exclusion,Paramjit S. Judge and Manjit Kaur (2010)
The Myth of Goat Sacrifice and Hazoor Sahib
Sikh Scholar Views on Diet

[1] "Jhatiti, Jhaṭiti: 10 definitions".www.wisdomlib.org.24 March 2019.Retrieved10 November2022.

[Fieldhouse30-2] Paul Fieldhouse (2017).Food, Feasts, and Faith: An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions.ABC-CLIO. pp. 30–31.ISBN 978-1-61069-412-4.,Quote:"Jhatka, which comes from the Sanskrit wordjhatitimeaning "at once", is a method of slaughter in which a single rapid jerk or blow to the head is believed to produce the least amount of suffering for the animal. (...) Unlike in Islam, there is no religious ritual that accompanies the killing. "

[3] HS Singha (2009), Sikhism: A Complete Introduction, Hemkunt Press,ISBN 978-8170102458,pages 81-82

[auto-4] Skoda, Uwe; Lettmann, Birgit (October 30, 2017).India and Its Visual Cultures: Community, Class and Gender in a Symbolic Landscape.SAGE Publishing India.ISBN 9789386446695– via Google Books.

[5] Chandar, Y. Udaya (2020-02-25).The Strange Compatriots for Over a Thousand Years.Notion Press.ISBN 978-1-64760-859-0.

[6] Singh, I. J., Sikhs and SikhismISBN 81-7304-058-3"And one Semitic practice clearly rejected in the Sikh code of conduct is eating flesh of an animal cooked in ritualistic manner; this would mean kosher and halal meat. The reason again does not lie in religious tenet but in the view that killing an animal with a prayer is not going to ennoble the flesh. No ritual, whoever conducts it, is going to do any good either to the animal or to the diner. Let man do what he must to assuage his hunger. If what he gets, he puts to good use and shares with the needy, then it is well used and well spent, otherwise not."

[7] Mini Encyclopaedia of Sikhism by H.S. Singha, Hemkunt Press, Delhi.ISBN 81-7010-200-6"The practice of the Gurus is uncertain. Guru Nanak seems to have eaten venison or goat, depending upon differentJanamsakhiversions of a meal which he cooked at Kurukshetra which evoked the criticism of Brahmins. Guru Amardas ate only rice and lentils but this abstention cannot be regarded as evidence of vegetarianism, only of simple living. Guru Gobind Singh also permitted the eating of meat but he prescribed that it should be jhatka meat and never Halal meat that is in the Muslim fashion. "

[Mahaprashad-8] "The most special occasion of the Chhauni is the festival of Diwali which is celebrated for ten days. This is the only Sikh shrine at Amritsar where Maha Prasad (meat) is served on special occasions in Langar",The Sikh review, Volume 35, Issue 409 - Volume 36, Issue 420, Sikh Cultural Centre, 1988

[9] Spirit, Khalsa."Khalsa Rehat".KhalsaSpirit.com.Archived fromthe originalon 6 March 2016.Retrieved13 March2016.

[:7-10] "AISSF forces shopkeepers to shut liquor and meat shops in Punjab".India Today.30 April 1987.Retrieved2023-09-14.

[:8-11] "Sikh militants in Punjab, putting a moral edge on... - UPI Archives".UPI.Retrieved2023-05-21.

[12] Chima, Jugdep S. (2010-03-11).The Sikh Separatist Insurgency in India: Political Leadership and Ethnonationalist Movements.SAGE Publishing India.ISBN 978-93-5150-953-0.

[13] Fazal, Tanweer (2014-08-01).Nation-state and Minority Rights in India: Comparative Perspectives on Muslim and Sikh Identities.Routledge.ISBN 978-1-317-75178-6.

[neville-14] Neville Gregory and Temple Grandin (2007), Animal Welfare and Meat Production, CABI,ISBN 978-1845932152,pages 207-208

[amyfitz-15] Amy J Fitzgerald (2015), Animals as Food, Michigan State University Press,ISBN 978-1611861747

[16] Opinderjit Kaur Takhar (2016).Sikh Identity: An Exploration of Groups Among Sikhs.Taylor & Francis. pp. 38–39.ISBN 978-1-351-90010-2.

[17] Karen Pechilis; Selva J. Raj (2013).South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today.Routledge. p. 242.ISBN 978-0-415-44851-2.The Sikh Rahit Maryada forbids hair cutting, adultery, the use of intoxicants, and the eating of kutha meat, or meat of an animal or fowl slaughtered slowly.

[PechilisRaj2013-18] Pashaura Singh (2013). Karen Pechilis; Selva Raj (eds.).South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today.Routledge. p. 242.ISBN 978-0-415-44851-2.,Quote: "The Sikh Rahit Maryada forbids hair cutting, adultery, the use of intoxicants, and the eating of Kutha meat, that is Muslim halal meat, obtained through the slow bleeding or religious sacrifice of animals".

[19] Jamie S. Scott (2012).The Religions of Canadians.University of Toronto Press. p. 320.ISBN 978-1-4426-0516-9.

[20] Singha, Dr. H.S. (30 May 2009)."7 Sikh Traditions and Customs".Sikhism: A Complete Introduction.Sikh Studies. Vol. Book 7 (Paperback ed.). New Delhi: Hemkunt Press. p. 81.ISBN 978-81-7010-245-8.Retrieved25 November2010.

[21] Aditya Menon (14 May 2020)."Why Hindutva Outfits Are Calling for a Boycott of Halal Products".The Quint.Retrieved23 October2021.

[Mukhopadhyay-22] Mukhopadhyay, K. (2020).Food and Power: Expressions of Food-Politics in South Asia.SAGE Publications. p. 240.ISBN 978-93-5388-377-5.Retrieved2022-06-10.mostly practised in Shakti cult, while Puranas and the Gita forbid animal sacrifice.

[23] Order No. Tax/F.15(25)DLB/63Published in the Govt. Gazette on 13-02-1965 (Part 6)

[24] Sikh women in England: their religious and cultural beliefs and social practicesBy S. K. Rait, p. 63 Trentham Books, 2005ISBN 1-85856-353-4

[25] Food safety and quality assurance: foods of animal originBy William T. Hubbert, Page 254 Wiley-Blackwell, 1996ISBN 0-8138-0714-X

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