Hindus are urging Bank of Canada (BOC) to produce beef-free banknotes in the future.
Hindus worldwide are upset over Bank of Canada continuing with polymer banknotes which reportedly contained traces of tallow (rendered form of beef or mutton fat).
Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, urged BOC to show respect to the feelings of Hindus and come up with a banknote production process which did not use beef as an ingredient.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated that it was highly insensitive on the part of BOC to continue with reportedly beef-laced banknotes.
Rajan Zed urged BOC Governor Stephen S. Poloz and Canada’s Finance Minister Bill Morneau to seriously look into this issue and Prime Justin Trudeau to intervene.
Consumption of beef is highly conflicting to Hindu beliefs and it is certainly banned from entering Hindu religious centers. Cow, the seat of many deities, is sacred and has long been venerated in Hinduism, Zed states.
Most of the large companies world over did extensive consumer research before launching a new product. BOC should have been wise and literate enough to look into the religious sensitivities of its consumers before investing so much money and effort into the production of polymer banknotes, Rajan Zed pointed out.
Hindus were skeptical about the sincerity of BOC, which wanted Canadians to use its bank notes “with confidence and pride”, Zed added.
BOC, founded in 1934 and headquartered in Ottawa, is nation’s central bank, and “designs, issues and distributes Canada’s bank notes”.