‘Hindu’ and ‘Muslim food’ in airlines, uproar on social media, know the whole matter

New Delhi. The issue of food served in Vistara Airlines is seen gaining momentum on social media. In fact, journalist Aarti Tikku Singh recently accused Vistara of labeling all the vegetarian food she got while traveling as “Hindu food” and chicken food as “Muslim food” and accused the airline of communalizing food.

He asked the airline, “Who told you that all Hindus are vegetarians and all Muslims are non-vegetarians?” Tikku accused Vistara of imposing food options on people and asked: “Are you now going to communalize vegetables, chicken and passengers in the flight as well?”

Tikku’s post

Hello @airvistara, why the hell is vegetarian meal called “Hindu meal” and chicken meal called “Muslim meal” on your flights? Who told you that all Hindus are vegetarian and all Muslims are non-vegetarian? Why are you thrusting food choices on people? Who authorised you to do… pic.twitter.com/46w4avU7Vs

— Aarti Tikoo Singh (@AartiTikoo) August 27, 2024

She posted on X, ‘Why are vegetarian meals on your flights called “Hindu meals” and chicken meals called “Muslim meals”? Who told you that all Hindus are vegetarians and all Muslims are non-vegetarians? Why are you imposing food options on people? Who gave you the right to do this? Are you now going to communalise the vegetables, chicken and passengers on the plane? I was so shocked by this bad behaviour that I booked both the meals to disobey your order.’

She also appealed to the Civil Aviation Ministry to take action on the matter. Meanwhile, Tikku shared a screenshot of his ticket from Srinagar to Jammu, which showed that he had booked a “Hindu meal” and a “Muslim meal” for the short duration flight.

People’s reaction

Many social media users told Tikku that airline food codes are not decided by Vistara but are standardised across the industry. “In general aviation parlance, Hindu food (HNML) is not necessarily vegetarian food – it can also be non-vegetarian food that is not halal,” wrote Sanjay Lazar, CEO of Avialas Consultants. “Similarly, Muslim food (MOML) is non-vegetarian food that is halal,” he explained.

Former Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor also gave a similar response and said that these are standard international food codes used by not just Vistara but also GDS-based airlines globally. He, however, stressed the need to update/modernise the complex food codes.