'Gaumutra', or cow urine, has "anti-bacterial" and "anti-fungal" properties, and can heal a variety of illnesses, including IBS, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome - advice apparently proffered by V Kamakoti, the Director of Chennai's Indian Institute of Technology, according to a video that emerged online Monday.
Amid outrage over his comment, NDTV asked Professor Kamakoti this morning if someone who should be propagating science and a scientific temperament should spread superstition. To this he replied, "The anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties of cow urine have been scientifically demonstrated... top journals in the United States have published scientific evidence."
Prof. Kamakoti - whose research interests include computational geometry, according to the website of IIT Madras' Department of Computer Science and Engineering - also hit out at the "perception there is no strong experimentation, or scientific evidence, on the medicinal properties of on cow urine".
He shared a write-up published in Nature, a respected weekly scientific journal, in June 2021, in which scientists associated with the Animal Biotechnology Centre and Cell Biology and Proteomics Lab of the National Dairy Research Institute, had published the result of "peptide profiling in cow urine".
The authors concluded, "We presented a simple method for the discovery of thousands of endogenous peptides in cow urine that contribute to various bioactivities associated with urine... we provided evidence for the peptide-mediated antimicrobial activity against E. coli and S. aureus but more experiments are needed to validate other predicted bioactivities..."
And, according to his office, Professor Kamakoti, who is also an organic farmer, was merely "sharing his own experiences in this event".
IIT Madras Director's 'Cow Urine' Remark
In the video in question, Mr Kamakoti - standing before a poster of a cow at an event celebrating the harvest festival of Pongal - narrates the story of a 'sanyasi' who cured himself by drinking 'gaumutra', or cow urine, and declares, to scattered applause, "... we have to accept its medicinal value".
"There was a sanyasi... he had a high fever, and the people wanted to call a doctor. But the sanyasi, whose name I forget, he said (in Sanskrit), 'gaumutra pibami' and went immediately to a cowshed and got some cow urine. He drank this all down and, in 15 minutes, his fever disappeared."
"So... (it has) anti-bacterial and anti-fungal (properties)... for digestive and stomach problems, for IBS... for many other illnesses, this 'gaumutra' is big medicine," Mr Kamakoti declared.
According to news agency PTI, the comment - which sources in IIT (Madras) confirmed had, in fact, been made - was delivered at a 'mattu', or 'cow', Pongal event in Chennai on January 15.
Congress, DMK's Sharp Reactions
The comment has been panned by political leaders, academics, and others.
Congress leader Karti Chidambaram, who flagged the remark to the Indian Medical Association, has criticised the IIT (Madras) chief for "peddling pseudoscience". "... most unbecoming," he said on X.
Tamil Nadu's ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has also slammed the IIT Madras boss and demanded his transfer. DMK leader TS Elangovan was quoted by the Times of India as saying, "He must be transferred (out) and posted at some Government of India medical college... what will he do at IIT? GoI should throw him out... appoint him as Director of some AIIMS."
However, the Bharatiya Janata Party's Tamil Nadu chief, K Annamalai, has come to Mr Kamakoti's defence, telling reporters, "everybody has the right to practise his religion..."
"It's unfortunate our IIT Chennai Director, who is a very decorated person... an expert in AI (artificial intelligence) and quantum computing... he chose to follow his dharma and pray to his God in his own way. But this is being politicised. Everybody has the right to practise his religion. I urge them to stop the protest (and) respect the sanctity of the institution," Mr Annamalai said in a video shared by PTI.
With input from agencies
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