Left-wing trade union All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) questioned the appeal of Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) to mark February 14 as ‘cow hug day’. Terming it as shocking and outrageously appalling, the AITUC secretariat said the Centre approving such an appeal was all the more deplorable.
The appeal was unconstitutional as the Indian Constitution stood for encouraging scientific temper, it said and urged the Centre to immediately withdraw it. “AITUC also calls upon the Union government to initiate stringent action against the official responsible for issuing such an unscientific appeal,” it said.
The trade union said it was an affront to the secular and pluralistic culture of India. “Every religious scripture is believed to propagate humanitarian doctrine. The Constitution upholds freedom of religion to its citizens, but the state is secular and scientific view is an integral part of secularism,” it added.
“The appeal to ‘hug cows’ on February 14, Valentines Day, is an unabashed mockery of a scientific and civilised society. Unscientific, illogical and far-fetched ideas of any individual or a political party or an ideology cannot be allowed to malign the scientific quintessence of secular India by using government machinery,” the statement said.
