TLI Staff
New Delhi: Wondering as to why the appeal for celebrating Cow Hug Day was rolled back by Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), former chief of the central body has said it is beyond his comprehension and a big mystery.
In a video message circulated in WhatsApp groups, the ex-IAS and former AWBI chairman Dr SP Gupta appealed people to observe February 14 as Cow Hug Day arguing that cow-cuddling has been practiced in India for ages.
“You would have read about Cow Hug Day appeal issued by AWBI on the directions of Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. As soon as the news came people got very excited and a wave of happiness spread across the country. Those running Gaushalas and Pinjarapoles started preparations for it. But soon the appeal was withdrawn and it was beyond my comprehension why the AWBI retracted,” Dr Gupta says in the video.
He further says, “It is a mystery as to under what pressure the appeal was withdrawn. It was an appeal and not imposition of any decision. The AWBI is anyway a statutory body which keeps issuing advisories from time to time. Many people don’t follow them. This time also it was just an appeal. If someone wants to follow, well and good, if they don’t follow it is their choice.”
Dr Gupta runs a cow-shelter and naturopathy hospital near Gurgaon in Haryana. Over weekends, a lot of people from nearby townships throng to Dr Gupta’s Kamdhenu Gowdham and Arogya Sansthan for cow-cuddling and panchkarma therapies.
While issuing appeal for Cow Hug Day, the AWBI in its February 6 circular said that hugging cows will bring “emotional richness” and increase “individual and collective happiness”.
It also noted that Vedic traditions are almost on the “verge of extinction” due to the “progress of West culture” and that the “dazzle of western civilization has made our physical culture and heritage almost forgotten”.
The advisory received mixed response on social media with many of them making fun of it and seeing it as an attempt by the right-wing government to rebrand Valentine’s Day as Cow Hug Day.
Following criticism in certain sections of the society, AWBI retracted its circular.
In a notice to withdraw the appeal, AWBI Secretary S.K. Dutta said, “As directed by the competent authority and the 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Dairying, the appeal issued by the Animal Welfare Board of India for celebration of Cow Hug Day on February 14 stands withdrawn.”