BJP MLA Surendra Singh has claimed that consuming gomutra (cow urine) every morning on an empty stomach will “guarantee” protection from the novel coronavirus. The lawmaker from Bairia in Uttar Pradesh also shot a tutorial video on how to consume cow urine.
In the video, Singh, holding a bottle of Pantanjali’s cow urine, requests people to mix 50 ml of the cow urine in cold water and consume it every day to achieve a “natural immunity” from the virus.
Dr Mukesh Batra said, “Anything that is recommended should be clinically proven. I am not aware of any trials being conducted on cow’s urine to treat COVID. All COVID treatments should be carried out only under the supervision of qualified and registered medical practitioners. Follow COVID protocols to stay safe.
Dr Abhilash of Siddha Medicine said, “I don’t know why political leaders are making such irresponsible comments, but some studies have suggested consuming cow urine can have toxic effects as well as precipitate infections and serious health problems. Most prominent research institutions concerned with animal biology have no information on the record about the usefulness of cow urine.”
Dr Anshuman Manaswi said, “Drinking cow urine for prevention of COVID-19 has no scientific proven basis at all. In India we have far more opinion makers, the self-claimed doctors who make irresponsible statements which actually harms the patients by not allowing them to connect with doctors at the earliest. We’ll have to base our treatment only on evidence and wisdom. In absence of that what we suggest is only quackery. We all have all the regards for Ayurvedic medicines, but let the evidence come by the virtue of Large double blinded multicenter Randomized control trials. It is the only method how a remedy or medicine can be tested and then advocated. Those in public life should dissuade themselves from making irresponsible comments in these troubled times at least. He further stated that “many scientists have already debunked claims, including by Baba Ramdev, that cow urine can ‘cleanse’ a solution of a substance called betadine, a minor disinfectant. Ramdev et al have performed ‘experiments’ whereby betadine is added to a glass of pure water, causing the solution to turn reddish brown. When cow urine is added, the solution returns to its colourless state.”
According to D.N. Jha, a veteran historian, a concoction of organic products derived from the cow – milk, curd, clarified butter, dung and urine – called ‘panchagavya’ assumed a purificatory role in the medieval period. However, several Sanskrit texts delineating the dharma of Hinduism proscribe women from using it, and also claim that if a person of the lower caste drinks cow urine, they will be condemned to hell. Such customs only deepen the need to be skeptical of the role of cow urine vis-à-vis human health.”
Dr Deepak Chaturvedi said, “COVID-19 pandemic is a reality and its not wrong to say that mankind is facing a big crisis, challenge and threat. The irony in that there are many politicians and pseudo-intellectuals who are not restraining themselves from giving baseless and rubbish statements in the public. Many pseudo-intellectuals are labeling this pandemic as scam and influencing people to stay careless which is one of the reason why we are not yet able to break the transmission chain of this virus. Then come the great politicians of this country. They seem to have no hesitation in passing public statements to promote the consumption of cow urine as the remedy of COVID-19. This is utterly disgusting and shocking. Cow, indeed is very much respected and worshipped in Indian culture but does that really justify the extent these politicians or local leaders go to claim anything about the medicinal role of Cow urine or cow dung to fight this COVID crisis? These politicians don’t stop here. There is one super intelligent politician who claims that cow inhales oxygen and exhales oxygen. I really don’t understand how to react on this. Should I laugh or feel pity?
“This is my sincere request to all these political leaders and pseudo-intellectuals to refrain themselves from passing such baseless statements in public and avoid misleading them. We all should be responsible about what we are saying. Lets not take this pandemic lightly or as an opportunity to promote some cultural, religious or political belief. I would like to urge people of our country to not listen to these pseudo-intellectuals and politicians and not to get influenced by their claims about Cow urine, Cow dung, beating thali or lighting the diyas in this battle against COVID-19. Please stay vigilant and contact your doctor for any query. I would like to appeal to the government and honorable courts of our country to take stringent actions against the people who are spreading false information regarding this pandemic and claiming the miracle remedies for COVID-19,” Dr Chaturvedi added.
Dr Vishal Sawant said, “Our politicians have to understand that in these tough times people are vulnerable and they should make only verified statements. Also, to ignore medicine and science or to undermine it at these times will cause more fear and uncertainty in people. Medicine has clearly helped to save many lives in this pandemic. They want to advocate ways of increasing immunity they are free too as long as they are clearly proved methods. That’s would be helping people in a way but not this.”
In the video, BJP MLA Surendra Singh, holding a bottle of Pantanjali’s cow urine, requests people to mix 50 ml of the cow urine in cold water and consume it every day to achieve a “natural immunity” from the virus.
In the middle of India’s second wave, Singh said that he has been spending nearly 18 hours a day in public, and is still healthy and protected. Claiming that all scientific knowledge has failed in front of COVID, Singh said, “even after so much scientific advancement people are still dying in lakhs, so in this situation, people should remember god and do what older generations did to treat such things.”
