Hindu Groups in UK call on Bank of England to withdraw 'non-veg' 5-pound note

London: Hindu organizations in England have asked the Bank of England to quickly withdraw the new 5-pound note from circulation in the economy since it is made out of animal fat.

The Hindu organization says that the notes should 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."

With PTI Inputs