Amid memes and jokes flooding social media over the Cow Hug Day order which came in a blip before the order was withdrawn within 4 days, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday launched his humourous take on it — and it was not bereft of a jibe at Hindi Rashtravadi. The Thiruvananthapuram MP thought it must have been a verbal instruction “let them hug their guy” which got misheard as ‘gaay’ and therefore the order and its subsequent withdrawal.
“Was the Government cow-ed by the jokes made at its expense or was it merely cow-ardice? My guess is the original appeal was an oral instruction: “Valentine’s Day: let them hug their guy” & the last word was misheard by a HindiRashtravadi as gaay!” Shashi Tharoor tweeted.
February 14 is celebrated as Valentine’s Day across the world. The Animal Welfare Board on February 6 issued a directive urging cow lovers to also celebrate the day as Cow Hug Day for ’emotional richness’. In view of the immense benefit of the cow, hugging with cow will bring emotional richness hence will increase our individual and collective happiness. Therefore, all the cow lovers may also celebrate February 14 as Cow Hug day keeping in mind the importance of mother cow and make life happy and full of positive energy,” the directive said.
The directive drew mostly amused reaction while several BJP leaders stood by it and vouched for the benefits of hugging a cow. However, the Board withdrew the directive on Friday without giving any reason. “As directed by the Competent Authority and Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying the appeal issued by the Animal Welfare Board of India for celebration of Cow Hug Day on 14th February, 2023 stands withdrawn,” it said.
The withdrawal did not pause the humour but in fact, doubled. “What a pity- have to make new plans for Valentine’s day,” Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra said. An old video of BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao getting kicked by a cow went viral while many social media users wanted Cow Hug Day to be back — both sarcastically and not.