Cow urine: BJP's Soundararajan springs up to IIT chief's defence
text_fields
Times of India photo.
Chennai: Following the controversial remark promoting the claimed medicinal properties of cow urine by V Kamakoti, the director of one of India’s premier education institutions, Madras IIT, and severe backlash towards him that followed, BJP leader in Tamil Nadu Tamilisai Soundarajan surfaced defending Kamakoti.
In a statement of apparent defence of the IIT Madras Director, Soundararajan said that if eating beef is ok, then why is not cow urine.
“If eating beef is right, then why not Gomutra?” India Today quoted the saffron party leader, who apparently defended Kamakoti, who claimed that cow urine could destroy fungus and bacteria as well as cure bowel ailments in humans.
The Indian Institute of Veterinary Research said in 2023 that consumption of cow urine is harmful to humans as cow and buffalo urines contain 14 kinds of bacteria that are harmful to human beings.
Kamakoti’s comments attracted severe backlash from various political quarters, mainly from Congress and the DMK in Tamil Nadu. Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram condemned his remarks, saying, “Peddling pseudoscience by IIT Madras Director is most unbecoming.”
DMK leader TKS Elangovan pointed out that Kamakoti has no doctor, and even doctors won’t prescribe cow urine. Ultimately, “no one” will tell anybody to drink cow urine to cure ailments, he said. He added that he requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to transfer the Madras IIT director to AIIMS.
I request PM Modi to transfer him to AIIMS instead of IIT,” India Today quoted the leader.
In the director’s defence, Soundararajan said that traditional practices surrounding cow waste are rooted in Indian culture and should not be dismissed lightly. She said the collective fire at Kamakoti is unwarranted, India Today reported.
