Haryana minister wants cow as national animal, launches poll

Chandigarh, Oct 13: After pitching for declaring cow as the national animal, Haryana's Health Minister Anil Vij has launched an online poll on the issue. The outspoken five-time Ambala Cantt MLA Vij, through tweets, had recently mooted the idea of making cow the national animal replacing tiger.

Launching the online poll on Twitter yesterday, Vij has reasoned that the cow needs protection as the tiger can protect itself.

"There is a mafia that is involved in slaughtering cows. Like the peacock is protected by virtue of being the national bird, the same will be the case when cow is declared as national animal," Vij stated. On October 7, Vij had tweeted, "Declare Cow as National Animal of India instead of Royal Bengal tiger". Vij had also said that cow is the most pious animal in Indian culture and is worshipped in most of the parts of the country.

Earlier in March this year, the Haryana Assembly had passed a bill for the "protection and upkeep" of cows, which provides for a complete ban on cow slaughter in the state and rigorous imprisonment ranging from three years to ten years for killing the animal. The Haryana 'Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan' Bill, 2015 also provides for a fine from Rs 30,000 to Rs one lakh.

PTI