Remarks by the head of one of India’s top technology colleges extolling the “medicinal value” of cow urine have sparked a political row in India.
The comments by V Kamakoti, the director of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, sparked a backlash from regional political parties and lawmakers who accused him of promoting “pseudoscience”.
In a video that has now gone viral, Mr Kamakoti can be heard narrating a story about an Indian ascetic who apparently cured himself of high fever by consuming cow urine.
India Today quoted him as saying that the ascetic “drank cow urine and in 15 minutes, his fever subsided”.
He also promoted cow urine as “anti-bacterial and anti-fungal” and said that it had “digestive properties” that could cure Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), news agency Press Trust of India reported. The IITs, first established in 1950 in the eastern state of West Bengal, are premium educational institutes.
Mr Kamakoti was speaking at an event in state capital Chennai on 15 January on the day of Maatu Pongal, a four-day festival honouring cows and bulls for their contribution to agriculture. The cattle are decorated with flowers, paint and bells for the occasion.
The remarks led to an immediate backlash from various political parties, including from the opposition Indian National Congress.
TKS Elangovan, the leader of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu, criticised Mr Kamakoti and accused the federal government of intending to “spoil” education in India.
He told Times Now: “He must be transferred from IIT and posted at some of the GOI (government of India) medical colleges. What will he do in IIT? It’s related to engineering and other fields.”
“He should be posted in AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) as director. The GOI should immediately throw him out of IIT and appoint him as director of some AIIMS,” he said.
Congress leader Karti P Chidambaram also denounced the IIT Madras director, writing on X: “Peddling pseudoscience by @iitmadras Director is most unbecoming” and tagged the Indian Medical Association – India’s largest represented organisation of doctors.”
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist party, came to the defence of Mr Kamakoti, who has won several prestigious awards in India, and accused critics of “politicising” his remarks.
The BJP president in Tamil Nadu, K Annamalai, told reporters: “The IIT-M director is an expert in quantum physics, and he was also a member of top government agencies. He is firm in his religious beliefs and respect for cows, which are not wrong.
“He did not force anyone to drink cow’s urine and merely expressed his beliefs. We must not politicise such statements. The IIT-M director is from Tamil Nadu, which is a matter of pride for the state. I know him and I do not want to politicise this,” he said.
Another BJP leader, Narayan Tirupati, was quoted as saying by Times Now: “Gaumutra (cow urine) is an Indian traditional medicine. Even in many shops where we buy medicines Gaumutra is mixed and they give that.
“It is a kind of substance used in medicines. Everyone knows that. Our former prime minister Morarji Desai also used to have Gaumutra. It is there in Indian tradition … It is one’s belief. If you don’t believe, leave it,” he was quoted as saying.
Cows are considered holy in Hinduism and the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, a trust that manages one of the wealthiest Hindu temples in India, the Sri Venkateswara Temple, manufactures several products such as shampoos and soaps using “cow urine distillate”.
“The five derivatives from the cows – cowdung, urine, milk, curd and ghee – are popularly known as ‘panchagavyas’ and widely used in ayurveda due to their medicinal value,” the trust says. Ayurveda is a holistic system of medicine that originated in India.
In 2020, more than 500 scientists had reportedly urged the Indian government to withdraw its call for research proposals on the “uniqueness” of indigenous cows and the alleged curative properties of cow urine, dung, and milk, including their potential use in cancer treatments.
The call for research proposals was part of a broader funding initiative involving the Department of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Ayush (created in 2014 when BJP’s Narendra Modi came to power to revive “the profound knowledge of our ancient systems of medicine”) along with other government bodies.
In an online letter, the researchers criticised the initiative as “unscientific” and a misuse of public funds.
In 2023, research by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute revealed that cow urine contains at least 14 types of harmful bacteria, including strains linked to stomach infections in humans.
The Independent has reached out to Mr Kamakoti for further comment.
