Nevada (Face2News)
Hindus worldwide are upset over RBNZ 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 (USA) today, urged RBNZ 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 RBNZ to continue with reportedly beef-laced banknotes. Rajan Zed urged RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr and Finance Minister Grant Robertson to seriously look into this issue and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern 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. RBNZ 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. RBNZ should re-read and follow its own professed “Value” of “inclusion”, Zed added. RBNZ, established in 1934 and headquartered in Wellington, is New Zealand's central bank wholly owned by the government of New Zealand and supplies New Zealand banknotes.