Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: The spark that ignited the fire of the First War of Indian Independence in 1857 was the “greased cartridges” supplied by the East India Company to its hired army, largely comprising Hindu and Muslim soldiers. These cartridges were rumored to have used tallow (animal fat) extracted from cow and pigs, revered by the Hindus and frowned upon by the Muslims, respectively.
The soldiers refused to use cartridges on religious grounds as they did not want to pull the pins by teeth before firing. Animal fat, therefore, was the immediate reason for the uprooting of the Company Rule and its replacement by the British Crown.
Indirectly, therefore, tallow rewrote Indian history.
Something similar may be in the offing that may torpedo the aims of governments to vaccinate the people against COVID-19., which has already claimed over 1.7 million lives and infected nearly 80 million others worldwide in 2020.
Several governments have granted approvals to the vaccines speed-developed by different pharmaceutical companies across the world and are bracing to vaccinate the people on a war-footing. But a section of people, led by some religious organizations, have opposed the use of vaccines on grounds of faith.
This has worried the governments: what if they invest millions of dollars to buy the vaccines in bulk and store them, only to find many people reluctant to get vaccinated for a variety of reasons?
In the past, for example, some Muslim countries, including Pakistan, could not achieve targets of vaccination against diseases like poliomyelitis or diphtheria as they faced strong opposition from conservative people who thought that it was a camouflaged attempt to control the population. Due to this, the goals of the World Health Organization (WHO) to eradicate such diseases have remained unachievable.
Clearly, vaccine availability does not necessarily mean vaccine acceptability.
Some conservative Christian, Muslim, and Jewish clergy have, similarly, opposed the vaccination drive against COVID-19, which is set to begin next month in many countries.
Like animal fat used in the British cartridges, these conservative people believe that the pork-gelatin has been used in making the COVID-19 vaccines. Pork is abhorred by the Jews and Muslims. On the other hand, some Roman Catholic Christians have been made to believe that tissues extracted from aborted fetuses have been used in some vaccines, media reports said.
Governments and religious organizations have suddenly risen against such rumors which may jeopardize their large-scale vaccination drives and potentially create mayhem for others. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Fatwa Council has clarified that even if a vaccine has used pork gelatin, it was admissible as it would be administered intravenously through an injection, not swallowed by mouth like a medicine.
Similarly, The Vatican and Jewish organizations are trying to convince the people and remove misconceptions spreading about the vaccines.
The issue surfaced globally in October when a group of Indonesians, including diplomats and Muslim clergy, visited China to finalize a deal to buy vaccines. There, the clergy refused to accept vaccines that had used pork-gelatin. The Jews also opposed such vaccines on religious grounds. Two American bishops had declared the vaccines were “unethical” and they would not get vaccinated.
According to experts, pig or pork gelatin is used only in keeping the vaccine safe and effective during its storage and transportation.
Even in India, the majority of Sunni Muslims are opposing vaccines. The Sunni Muslim Ulemas, who met in Mumbai on Wednesday, that the Chinese vaccine, which allegedly contains pig gelatin, is ‘Haram’ or forbidden for Muslims.
Later, Raza Academy’s Secretary-General Saeed Noorie, said, “There are reports of a Chinese vaccine with parts of pig’s body. As pig is Haram for Muslims, a vaccine containing its body parts cannot be allowed.”
He urged the government to buy medicines only after seeking a list of ingredients used by vaccine-makers in their products and refuse to order any vaccine from China.
The UAE Fatwa Council chief Sheikh Abdullah bin-Bayag said that even if pork was used in making the vaccine, it would not violate the Shariah rules. This product aims to save human lives. Pork gelation is not to be swallowed but taken as an intravenous medicine.
In Israel, the Rabbinical Organization, and The Vatican have also urged the people not to oppose the vaccines on religious grounds.
So far, vaccine pioneers Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Moderna have said their products are gelatin-free. Other companies, including Zydus Cadila and Bharat Biotech in India, are yet to come out with clarifications.