A HINDU Hampshire father was left disappointed after his son’s school planned to serve a sacred animal for the “Taste of India” day.

Stoke Park Infants are hosting a “From Around The World Day” each day this week to teach the pupils about other cultures, foods and traditions.

But 64-year-old father, John Dear, was saddened to see that the school had decided to serve beef curry on a day celebrating Indian food.

Hinduism is the primary religion in India, with more than 80 per cent of the population identifying as Hindu and cows are regarded as sacred to adherents of the faith.

He said: “There are over one billion people in India and I doubt if even one of them has ever had beef curry.

“Even the thought of it is extremely offensive to Hindus who make up most of the population, the majority of which are vegetarian.

“Ten minutes on the computer would give a better indication of the national dishes of each country.”

John says that his six-year-old son James, who is a practising Hindu, knows not to eat beef.

“The vegetarian option was not much better – vegetable goujons and spicy wedges – which is not at all Indian and hardly representative of Indian culture.”

John expressed that he was disappointed that the school had “missed an opportunity”.

He said: “I think that the school has been very disrespectful, this is was a missed opportunity to teach the children about different cultures, beliefs and religions. There are so many lovely dishes that they could have offered.”

Since John vocalised his disappointment, the school have changed the meat in the dish to chicken.

In a letter to the parents of the school, head teacher Emma-Jane Charles wrote: “Please be advised that we have made a change to the menu for Tuesday of this week. We have changed the meat meal menu choice to chicken curry.

“As a school, we endeavour to be sensitive and inclusive to the range of faiths and beliefs among our school community. The inclusion of the original menu choice for Tuesday was a genuine oversight. I have taken immediate action to rectify this.

“On behalf of the whole school, I would like to offer our sincere apologies for any offence we may have caused.”