India’s government-run animal welfare department has appealed to citizens to mark Valentine’s Day this year not as a celebration of romance but as “Cow Hug Day” to better promote Hindu values.
The Animal Welfare Board of India said Wednesday that “hugging cows will bring emotional richness and increase individual and collective happi-ness.”
Devout Hindus, who worship cows as holy, say the Western holiday goes against traditional Indian values.
Senator Fetterman hospitalized in Washington D.C. In recent years, Hindu hardliners have raided shops in Indian cities, burned cards and gifts, and chased hand-holding couples out of restaurants and parks, saying that Valentine’s Day promotes prom-iscuity. Hardline political groups like Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal say such actions pave the way to reassert Hindu identity.
Young educated Indians irrespective of their re-ligion typically spend the holiday crowding parks and restaurants, exchanging gifts and holding parties to celebrate like any other Indian festival, especially since India began the process of economic liberali-zation in the early 1990s.
The Hindu nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pushing a Hindu agenda, seeking supremacy of the religion at the expense of a secular nation known for its diversity. Hindus comprise nearly 80% of its nearly 1.4 billion people. Muslims account for 14%, while Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains account for most of the remaining 6%.
Santos on Romney’s criticism: ‘It wasn’t very Mormon of him’ The cow has long been embedded in the Hindu psyche and is deeply respected by many similar to one’s mother. Most states in India have banned cow slaughter. The animal welfare board’s appeal asks people to go out and physically hug cows on Feb. 14. Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a political analyst, said the message is “absolutely crazy. It defies logic.” “The unfortunate part is this has now official sanc-tion,” he added. “This shows an eraser of one more line between the state and religion, which is very depressing. Now the state is doing what political and religious groups have been campaigning to do.”
“Vedic traditions are almost on the verge of ex-tinction due to the progress of west [sic] culture over time. The dazzle of western civilisation has made our physical culture and heritage almost forgotten,” the board said in a notification.
The body deemed the cow as the backbone of the country’s culture and rural economy, which sustains the life of its people, as well as represents its biodi-versity and cattle wealth.
“In view of the immense benefits of the cow, hugging [the] cow will bring emotional richness hence will increase our individual and collective happiness. Therefore, all the cow lovers may also celebrate February 14 as Cow Hug Day, keeping in mind the importance of the mother cow and making life happy and full of positive energy. This [was] issued with the approval of competent authority and on the direction of the Department of Animal Hus-bandry and Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying,” the notification further read.—AFP
