Correspondent

NewsBits.in

BHOPAL: A signature campaign against Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) was launched in Bhopal, urging the government to take action against the multi-national for fraud.

The organisers alleged that the company cheats common people by not telling them truth about their food products. They said that nearly 35,000 signatures had been collected till 3.30 pm.

The charge was that the KFC claims that it serves halal meat but the certificate shown is from another place for a separate company, and that it was cheating consumers. The common grievance was that the employees at the local KFC outlets didn't clarify doubts.

Apart from Muslims, Hindu activists were on the spot, demanding action on KFC for allegedly using beef in the products. Local leaders of Congress, BJP and other parties were present on the spot, with their banners against KFC.

BJP's Saurabh Gupta, Congress' Danish Baig, AIMIM's Mujhaid Khan, members of Dalit community, Ansari Samaj and other communities joined the campaign that gave a call to boycott KFC because of its questionable practices.  In view of the crowd, police personnel were deployed at Iqbal Madian, the venue.

"The company should clearly tell if the chicken is halal or jhatka so that consumers aren't cheated. It should be mentioned. Everyone person--Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Jain has the right to know what they are being served and they should not be offered food that is not in accordance with his religious beliefs, you can't give non-vegetarian food to a vegetarian, by wrongly claiming that it is vegetarian. This is unethical".

"The mufti who had signed it, says clearly that it was meant for a slaughterhouse in Maharashtra, in the past, and not for KFC", said organisers.

The signatures would be handed over to chief minister and the state police chief, demanding action.

The Shahar Qazi, Bhopal has given his assent to the campaign. Already, complaint has been made to the police though FIR has not been registered by the police as yet.

A complaint has been made to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and PM office also. Anam Ibrahim, who is a journalist and associated with the campaign, said that he found that chicken wasn't halal.

"The company officials don't clarify. In fact, their CEO is not in India but sits in China. We have lodged a complaint with police", he added. "This is a spontaneous movement and no one person is leader or organiser", he further said.

KFC couldn't be reached for comments. NewsBits.in tried to get a reaction from KFC. However, calls to the two officials named on its website's media section, went unanswered. The automated response was, "We are closed...".