India’s animal welfare department, run by the government, has asked citizens to celebrate Valentine’s Day as “Cow Hug Day” this year to promote Hindu values.

Wednesday’s statement by the Animal Welfare Board of India stated that hugging cows would bring emotional riches and increase individual and collective happiness.

Devout Hindus who revere cows as sacred, claim that the Western holiday is against Indian traditions.

Hindu extremists have taken over Indian shops, set fire to cards and gifts and chased hand-holding couples from restaurants and parks. They claim Valentine’s Day encourages promiscuity. Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena, two hardline political groups, claim such actions are a way to reaffirm Hindu identity.

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Indian youth, regardless of religion, spend the holiday in large numbers at parks and restaurants. They exchange gifts and hold parties to celebrate the Indian festivals.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist government, has been pushing a Hindu agenda. He seeks supremacy of the religion at all costs to a secular nation that is known for its diversity. Nearly 80% of the nation’s nearly 1.4 billion inhabitants are Hindus. Muslims make up 14% of the population, while Christians, Sikhs Buddhists, Christians and Jains make up most of the remaining 66%.

Cows have been a part of the Hindu psyche for a long time and are deeply revered by all who are similar to their mother. India has banned the slaughter of cows in most states. The appeal to animal welfare board asks for people to physically hug cows on February 14.

Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay is a political analyst who said that the message was “absolutely insane.” It defies logic.”

He added, “The sad part is that this has now been officially sanctioned.” This is a very sad sign that the state has redrawn one of its lines with religion. The state is now doing the same thing religious and political groups had been campaigning for.