The government-run animal protection department in India has urged citizens to observe Valentine’s Day this year as “Cow Hug Day,” rather than a romantic holiday, in order to better promote Hindu values.
The Animal Welfare Board of India stated on Wednesday that “hugging cows will bring emotional richness and increase individual and collective happiness.”
Devout Hindus, who consider cows to be sacred, argue that the Western celebration contradicts ancient Indian beliefs.
In recent years, Hindu hardliners have attacked shops in Indian cities, destroyed cards and gifts, and driven hand-holding couples out of restaurants and parks, claiming that Valentine’s Day promotes immorality. Hardline political parties such as the Shiv Sena and the Bajrang Dal argue that such activities pave the way for Hindu identity to be reasserted.
Young educated Indians, regardless of faith, generally spend the occasion crowding parks and restaurants, exchanging gifts, and throwing parties to celebrate, just like any other Indian festival, especially after India began the process of economic liberalization in the early 1990s.
The Hindu nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pursuing a Hindu agenda, seeking religious supremacy at the expense of a secular nation famed for its diversity. Hindus account for roughly 80% of the country’s 1.4 billion people. Muslims make up 14% of the population, with Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains making up the majority of the remaining 6%.
The cow, like one’s mother, has long been embedded in the Hindu mind. Cow slaughter has been prohibited in the majority of Indian states. The animal welfare board’s appeal invites people to physically cuddle cows on February 14.
The message is “absolutely crazy,” according to political expert Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. It defies logic.”
“The unfortunate part is that this now has official sanction,” he added. “This demonstrates an erasure of one more line between the state and religion, which is really disheartening. Now the state is implementing what political and religious groups have been lobbying for.”
»On Valentine’s Day, the Indian government requests that people hug cows«