നോൺവെജ്ജ് നോട്ടുകൾ
London:
Highlights
Use of animal fat in new 5-pound
note result of "ignorance": Hindu Groups
Petition seeking withdrawal of new
notes has gathered 126,000 signatures
A vegetarian cafe in Cambridge is
refusing to accept the new notes
Hindu Forum of
Britain (HFB), an umbrella group of Hindu organisations and temples in the UK,
has called on the Bank of England to withdraw the new 5-pound note from
circulation because it uses animal fat.
HFB said it was convinced the move was not "malicious" but a result
of "ignorance" and called for the notes to be made
"Karma-free" at the earliest."Saving and sharing wealth (the
Goddess of fortune) in currency tainted by unnecessary harm to animals is
somewhat of an oxymoron," said Shree Gauridas, spiritual commissioner of
HFB and a director of the UK's ISKCON temple.
The group has been encouraging people to sign a petition
calling for the withdrawal of the notes as vegans and vegetarians continued to
express outrage at the use of tallow, a substance derived from animal fat,
which emerged in a Twitter response earlier this week.
A petition titled "Remove tallow from bank notes" has gathered nearly
126,000 signatures. It will be delivered to the Bank of England when it hits
150,000.
It reads, "The new 5 pound notes contain animal fat in the form of tallow.
This is unacceptable to millions of vegans and vegetarians in the UK. We demand
that you cease to use animal products in the production of currency that we
have to use."
The new notes with an image of Britain's war-time Prime
Minister Winston Churchill became legal tender in September this year.
A vegetarian cafe in the university town of Cambridge is refusing to accept the
new notes and Sharon Meijland, owner of Rainbow Cafe, has put up signs warning
customers about the policy.
"Tallow's an animal product isn't it? Our whole business is based around
not having anything like that on the premises.
Although the same person doesn't handle the money that handles the food, that's
not really the point," she said.
The Bank of England says it is now looking into ways of removing the substance
from the supply chain.
"We are aware of some people's concerns about traces of tallow in our new
five pound note. We respect those concerns and are treating them with the
utmost seriousness," a spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, the Australian pioneer of the polymer bank note says it's
"stupid" that vegetarian and vegans are protesting in the UK about
the five pound polymer note containing animal fat.
Professor David Solomon says the polymer notes contain trivial amounts of
tallow, which is also used in candles and soap.
"It's stupid. It's absolutely stupid. There's trivial amounts of it in
there. It picks up less drugs than paper notes and you don't chop down trees.
It's more hygienic than a paper note by a long way," he said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a
syndicated feed.)
ബ്രിട്ടനിൽ നോട്ടു പരിഷ്കരണവും
ബഹിഷ്കരണവും
