No ‘Cow Hug Day’ On February 14. Centre Withdraws Appeal
After a barrage of parodies on social media, a government organisation withdrew their call for Valentine’s Day cow hugs. The Animal Welfare Board of India supported its recommendation to embrace a cow on Valentine’s Day in the appeal on Wednesday with claims that doing so would boost “individual and collective happiness” and bring about “emotional richness.”
The Animal Husbandry Ministry, led by Parshottam Rupala of the BJP, houses the Animal Welfare Board.
“As directed by the competent authority and Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, the appeal issued by the Animal Welfare Board of India for celebration of Cow Hug Day on February 14 stands withdrawn,” the board’s secretary SK Dutta said in a statement.
According to rights advocates, Valentine’s Day is seen negatively in India by the “moral police,” who also harass couples who celebrate it. Valentine’s Day in India is sometimes marked by instances of couples being beaten up by groups of men, especially in rural areas.
Vedic customs are practically “on the edge of extinction” due to the “advance of West culture,” according to the Animal Welfare Board, which also argued that “the dazzle of western civilisation has made our physical culture and legacy almost forgotten.”
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