As India Steps Up Alert Over Coronavirus, Assam BJP MLA Claims Cow Dung And Urine Can Cure It
In the past few months, WhatsApp groups have been flooded with all kinds of so-called cure for the deadly Coronavirus (Covid-19) which according to medical science has no treatment yet.
But that hasn't stopped people from spreading false information like some magical herbs, silver, homeopathy, and even cow dung and urine can cure Coronavirus.
The latest to join the misinformation bandwagon is Suman Haripriya a BJP MLA from Assam.?
Haripriya claimed that cow urine and cow dung are helpful in curing deadly diseases like cancer, so it could also cure coronavirus.
The worst part of her comment was that she made it inside the Assam Legislative Assembly, which means that her absurd claim is part of the official records.
"We all know that cow dung is very helpful. Likewise, when cow urine is sprayed, it purifies an area... I believe something similar could be done with gomutra?and?gobar?to cure coronavirus (disease)," she said during a discussion on smuggling of cattle to Bangladesh during the budget session of the assembly.
This is not the first time people have made such unsubstantiated claims about the power of cow dung and urine to cure coronavirus.
Earlier, Hindu Mahasabha president Swami Chakrapani Maharaj had also said that cow urine and dung can be used for the treatment of coronavirus. "Consuming cow urine and cow dung will stop the effect of infectious coronavirus. A person who chants Om Namah Shivay and applies cow dung on body, will be saved. A special yagna ritual will soon be performed to kill coronavirus".
As far as cow dung and urine curing cancer, it is again another unsubstantiated claim made by BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya, who believes she was cured of breast cancer by using cow urine.
However, Dr. SS Rajput a cardiovascular surgeon at Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow had rejected this claim and said that he had operated Pragya first in 2008 at the Mumbai¡¯s JJ Hospital when she had developed a tumor in the right breast and again in 2012 after the tumor recurred.
However, this hasn't stopped the government from going ahead with trying to use them for cancer treatment.
As recently as September 2019, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Ashwini Kumar Choubey had claimed that the Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) Ministry is working on?using cow urine?for preparation of medicines and treatment of cancer and other medicines.
The most unfortunate part of the making such claims is that a lot of unsophisticated people take these for granted, due to the structure of the person who said it.
Recently the World Health Organization (WHO) had warned about the spread of an infodemic - which is defined as "an overabundance of information ¡ª some accurate and some not ¡ª that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it."
