Guwahati: The Animal Welfare Board of India has withdrawn its appeal for people to hug a cow on Valentine’s Day following an onslaught of humorous memes on social media.
The Board, which comes under the Animal Husbandry Ministry, had suggested that hugging a cow would bring “emotional richness” and increase “individual and collective happiness”.
The suggestion to celebrate “Cow Hug Day” instead of Valentine’s Day faced criticism from rights activists, who point out that couples in India often come under attack from the so-called “moral police” on this special day.
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Cases of couples being physically attacked have been reported in rural regions of India.
The Animal Welfare Board had argued that Vedic traditions were at risk of becoming extinct due to the “progress of West culture” and that the “dazzle of western civilisation has made our physical culture and heritage almost forgotten”.