An Indian reporter is being lauded for calling out some leaders in India who claimed that cow urine and cow dung can help keep people safe from the novel coronavirus. But, do people promoting the claim practice it too? A video of reporter Pragya Mishra went viral for asking this question during a social experiment video. The video that was uploaded to a popular public reactions Youtube channel in India, on March 15, and has amassed over 1.3million views in just four days.
Starting with questioning a man who was seen calling himself a top leader of the All India Gauraksha Mahasangh (a nation-wide group of cow vigilantes), Mishra was seen offering people a bottle with yellow liquid in it labelled "gaumutra" or cow urine. She was seen asking these people if they believed in its healing powers. Many of those who responded in the affirmative, refused to even touch the bottle which in reality contained turmeric mixed with mineral water.
A brave lady anchor to expose those shameless people who are predominantly promoting BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), RSS. Amazing...
We need brave women like you in our country.
The video was also shared by many people on Whatsapp.
On March 14, a religious group in India had hosted a cow urine drinking party as they believe it wards off the coronavirus. In Hinduism, the cow is considered sacred and some followers drink cow urine believing it has medicinal properties.
According to a previous news reports in India, politicians from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party have in the past advocated the use of cow urine as medicine and a cure for cancer.
A member of parliament from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Suman Haripriya, has also suggested it could be used against the coronavirus. And, she is not the only BJP politician who believes this.
No scientific proof, say doctors
However, experts have repeatedly asserted that cow urine does not cure illnesses like cancer and there is no scientific evidence that it can prevent coronavirus.
A new BBC report quotes Dr Shailendra Saxena, of the Indian Virological Society, as confirming: "There is no medical evidence to show that cow urine has anti-viral characteristics. Moreover, using cow-dung could prove counter-productive as bovine faecal matter could contain a coronavirus which might replicate in humans."
The pathogen, which has infected more than 225,254 people worldwide and has caused 9,276 deaths has no known scientific cure and governments across the world are struggling to control the spread of the pandemic.
