This Eid, several multinational companies are feeling the heat of boycott of products called by groups protesting the incessant attacks on Gaza Strip by Israel.
A leading multinational milk company figures prominently on a list of companies which purportedly have Israeli or American investments. The list has gone viral on social media and is also being circulated through pamphlets and fliers in Hyderabad.
Eid-Ul-Fitr or Ramzan festival is synonymous with the milk-based sweet dish Sheerkhoma, which almost every Muslim home prepares on this special occasion. According to business sources, between 25 lakh and 30 lakh litres of milk is sold for Eid in the city of which this company claims a noticeable share.
“We are not selling their products. It is a voluntary decision to express solidarity with the victims of Gaza. We have been told that the company has investments from Israeli and American businessmen. That for us means supporting the Israeli policy of genocide of innocent people,” Mohammed Abdul Hameed, a retailer in Mir Alam Mandi in the Old City, said.
Another grocery store owner Fareeduddin in Shaheen Nagar said that he used to sell about 25 one-litre packs of this popular brand every day. But for the last few days no one is asking for it and the stock is rotting.
A dealer of soft drinks in the Old City said that there has been a dip in the sale of certain popular foreign brands. “The boycott would have really hit us hard had it been summer season. It is off season now, nevertheless the dip in sales is pinching us,” he said.
According to social activist Syed Inamur Rahman Ghayur, the people’s anger “against Israeli brutality” has to be shown in some way. “Boycotting products which have Israeli or American investments is a non-violent way of protesting and urging the world community to stop the killings of innocents in Palestine. We have also asked Muslims to celebrate Eid with a black band tied on their hands,” he said.
With emotions running high, religious scholars, intellectuals and politicians have jumped into the bandwagon and are urging people to ban the products this Eid. MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, Muslim Personal Law Board senior member Abdur Rahim Qureshi, Deeni Madrassa Board president Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani are among a long list of leading personalities who have given the call for boycott of Israeli products. They have also asked for special prayers to be held for Palestinian victims and an end to the unceasing attacks on Gaza.
Hyderabad has been witnessing a series of protests organized by various groups and organizations for the past week. Grand mufti of Palestine Mohammed A H Hussein and parliamentarian Abdullah M I Abdullah during a recent visit to Hyderabad had demanded that India should take part in the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” (BDS) campaign against Israel for its continued illegal occupation of Palestine.