Rooh Afza – India’s beloved summer drink a sugary health hazard with a deeper, darker identity crisis? For decades, Rooh Afza was thought of as a summer staple in Indian households. This sugary syrup was sold to all Indians as nostalgia in a bottle.
Every Indian has at some point relished a glass of this rose-flavored red drink to beat the summer heat. However, behind the cooling comfort lies a complicated story of sugar overload, Sharia compliance, and the silent funding of an opaque Waqf empire. It’s time to ask: what exactly are we drinking? And where does the money go?
Legacy of Rooh Afza – From Unani Tonic to Waqf Powerhouse
Invented in 1906 by Hakim Hafiz Abdul Majeed, Rooh Afza was originally marketed as a Unani medicine to combat Delhi’s heatstroke. However, after Partition in 1947, the founder’s sons split the company. One branch stayed in India as Hamdard Laboratories (India) while the other became Hamdard Pakistan.
Interestingly, Rooh Afza India and Rooh Afza Pakistan are two separate entities, but share the same name and branding, creating confusion over product authenticity.
In 2022, a Delhi High Court ruling banned the sale of Pakistani Rooh Afza in India. Why? Because it created concerns about trademark violations and unclear ingredient sourcing. But here’s where things get more complicated. The Indian Hamdard company is a Waqf-owned enterprise. Therefore, it is controlled by an Islamic Waqf Board and functions as per Sharia law. Its profits are funneled into religious and “charitable” causes approved by the Waqf.
Moreover, Rooh Afza is Halal certified – making it a beverage that’s not only religiously compliant but completely entrenched in Islam.
Rooh Afza – The Great Certification Conundrum
Here comes the paradox: Rooh Afza is completely vegetarian. It contains herbs, fruit extracts, loads of sugar, and rose essence. No meat. No animal extracts. But devout Muslims state that all Hamdard India products are Halal! Does its Waqf-in-spirit nature make it Halal for Muslims?
Rooh Afza earns 500 crores by controlling 50-60% of the Indian syrup market share!
Therefore, a large part of the syrup is consumed by Indian consumers – a mix of all religions. Hence, a large part of non-Muslims are consuming a product that claims Sharia compliance. Halal tags on meat products makes religious sense – for a devout Muslim consuming non-Halal products is equal to a Jain consuming meat. However, vegetarian products like biscuits, chips, syrups, and ice creams should not be “Halal” in Bharat.
The uncertified but known to all “halal”- belief of Hamdard India products seems more like a religio-economic gatekeeper that controls Muslim consumer perception to gain exclusive market access.
Most Halal certification bodies take giant sums from companies. Unlike the FSSAI, which governs hygiene and food safety for all, Halal certification in India is managed by private Islamic organizations. And most of which are not under direct government regulation. Hence, unlike the FSSAI, Halal tags are issued by an Islamic organization for pure profit in the name of religion! Rooh Afza is certified by FSSAI. And Hamdard displays no obvious Halal tag or certification.
But private Islamic bodies reassure Muslim consumers of the Halal nature of Rooh Afza!
Thus, non-Muslim consumers of Rooh Afza are unwittingly putting up with this Sharia compliance of this syrup. Hence, it seems that Hamdard is wealking a fine line keeping its product politically and religiously aligned. Meanwhile, the average Hindu consumer drinks Rooh Afza for nostalgia, not theology. However, they remain blissfully unaware that he is sipping on something that has severe religious strings attached to it.
Hamdard – The Waqf-in-Spirit Billion-Rupee Empire
Hamdard India proudly declares that “the entire profits go to charity through the Hamdard National Foundation.” What they don’t emphasize is that the Foundation has many registered Waqf entities like Hamdard (Waqf) Laboratories, etc. Therefore, making it a religiously inclined billion rupee that bows to Islamic law.
Here’s what that means:
- Hamdrad’s Waqf properties and enterprises are exempt from income tax under Section 10 of the Income Tax Act.
- Most of Hamdard’s Waqf assets can only be used for purposes permissible under Sharia – building mosques, running madrassas, providing scholarships for Muslim students, furthering Islamic studies, and funding clerics.
- Hamdrad’s non-profit yet Waqf-declared assets are not audited by the government like other trusts or PSUs.
And so 80% of Hmadard’s profits have zero obligation to contribute to “secular” nation-building efforts like infrastructure or non-muslim causes.
This raises the question: Is your Rooh Afza money indirectly funding “Islamic Fanaticism or Jihad” in Bharat?
This is precisely the fire Baba Ramdev lit when he controversially called Rooh Afza a ‘Jihadi Sharbat’! Not just due to sugar content, but for the opaque Islamic identity and network that may fuel a Sharia-driven ecosystem. Hamdard’s Waqf-in-spirit ecosystem monetizes Indian nostalgia and pumps it into an unaccountable parallel economy.
Hamdard’s CSR programs are part of a system that may be breeding religious fanaticism and sectarianism that ultimately generates “peaceful” stone-pelting zombies exclusively!
Who knows, some of the organizations that Hamdard supports may be supporting anti-India or anti-Hindu ideological narratives like Ghazwa-e-Hind? No one can be sure that radical Islam’s dream of subjugating India does not indirectly get Hamdard’s charity.
Time for a Secular Syrup? Let’s Talk Labels and Logic
Patanjali came up with their version of Rose syrup. Ramdev Baba is asking non-Muslims to consider the fact where their hard-earned money ends up before buying the “Jihadi Sharbat”! But let’s talk about India and its “secular” status.
Bharat’s laws, food safety mechanisms, and taxation systems – all claim religious neutrality.
So why should a drink made in India, for all Indians, adhere to Islamic rituals to be sold within India? Why is Hamdard India presumed as Halal by devout Muslims who usually reject the FSSAI-approved vegetarian labels?
Shouldn’t Bharat be entitled to ask:
- Hamdard India’s 80% profits of at least 500 crore business truly go?
- Is Hamdard India tax-exempt as a Waqf-in spirit entity?
- Does its Halal spirit override its “secular” national identity?
- But most of all: Is Rooh Afza just a summer drink or a sugary diabetes trap with deep religious economics penetrating secular consumption?
It’s not about banning Rooh Afza. It’s about transparency, choice, and secular accountability. Because at the end of the day, a syrup that is 87% sugar, wears the tag of Health Drink and Halal without justification. It earns crores and channels its profit into tax-free religious networks. Thus, Rooh Afza might not be just unhealthy for the body, but toxic for a secular republic.
The Next Time You Sip Rooh Afza, Ask Yourself: Are You Cooling Off, or Are You Being Played By The Waqf?