200 in New Delhi, India drink cow urine to fight off COVID-19
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
On Saturday, a few hundred people attended a gaumutra party (cow urine party) to fight off COVID-19. The party was organised by Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (All India Hindu Union) president Swami Chakrapani where the attendees consumed cow urine to prevent themselves from being infected by the coronavirus. Reuters estimated around 200 people attended the event held at the Indian capital city of New Delhi.
Speaking to Reuters, an attendee Om Prakash said, "We have been drinking cow urine for 21 years, we also take bath in cow dung. We have never felt the need to consume English medicine".
A yajña (literally means sacrifice, devotion, worship, or offering) was conducted at the start of the meeting and a poster of coronavirus, personified as an avatar of the Hindu god Narsimha, was displayed. At the event, ABHM president Chakrapani said "Coronavirus has come because of the people who kill and eat animals. When you kill an animal, it creates a sort of energy that causes destruction in that place".
In February, Chakrapani said, "Corona is not a virus, but avatar for the protection of poor creatures. They have come to give the message of death and punishment to the one who eats them".
COVID-19 was previously announced to be a "pandemic" by the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the WHO's situation report dated March 16, the virus claimed 6606 lives, and 167,515 cases were reported of this disease. The WHO's website said: "While some western, traditional or home remedies may provide comfort and alleviate symptoms of COVID-19, there is no evidence that current medicine can prevent or cure the disease. The WHO does not recommend self-medication with any medicines, including antibiotics, as a prevention or cure for COVID-19."
However, addressing the global leaders, Chakrapani proposed: "I request all the presidents and prime ministers of the world to take cow urine on a daily basis. You have all these scientists who don't know the cure, we have the cure given to us by the gods".
Chakrapani had said, "Corona was quiet in India because of yajña rituals. But these ignorant, arrogant Telangana ministers have challenged corona by killing animals and eating chicken in public, that there is a speculation of seeing the most formidable form of corona. Thus, these ministers should promptly seek forgiveness from corona, else it would be a disaster that no one can stop." ((hi))Hindi language: कोरोना भारत में यग्न अनुष्ठान के कारण शांत था। लेकिन तेलंगाना के इन नादान, अहंकारी मंत्रियों ने जीव हत्या कर जिस प्रकार से सार्वजनिक चिकन खा कर कोरोना को ललकारा है, इससे भारत में भी अब कोरोना के विकराल रूप देखने की आशंका बन गई है। अतः इन मंत्रियों को समय रहते कोरोना से तत्काल माफ़ी मांग लेनी चाहिए, अन्यतः अनर्थ हो जायेगा, जिसे कोई नहीं रोक सकता। Earlier this month, Chakrapani told ThePrint, "Just like we organise tea parties, we have decided to organise a gaumutra party, wherein we will inform people about what is coronavirus and how, by consuming cow-related products, people can be saved from it".
Cows are considered sacred by Hindus and politicians of the Hindu-nationalist party Bharatiya Janta Party had previously cited the medicinal benefits of cow urine. Similar sentiment was shared by a Minister of Legislative Assembly from Assam earlier this month. Suman Haripriya of the Hajo assembly said "Coronavirus is an airborne disease and it can be cured by using gaumutra and cow dung."
According to the reports by Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering, there are at least 142 cases in India, of which three patients have died. 14 have recovered so far in the country. Multiple schools and colleges are closed across the country as a precautionary measure to slow down the spread of this virus. Passengers at airports are being screened to ensure safety.
Related news
- "World Health Organization declares COVID-19 pandemic" — Wikinews, March 14, 2020
Sources
- "Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV)" — Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering, March 17, 2020 (date of access)
- Tanu Kulkarni. "Karnataka: Even as schools remain closed, DPI issues timetable for teachers" — The Hindu, March 17, 2020
- "Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report – 56" — World Health Organization, Match 16, 2020 (PDF)
- IANS. "Coronavirus: Primary Schools, Malls Closed in Tamil Nadu Till March 31" — India.com, March 15, 2020
- Danish Siddiqui. "Hindu group offers cow urine in a bid to ward off coronavirus" — Reuters, March 14, 2020
- PTI. "Coronavirus: Group hosts ‘cow urine party’, says COVID-19 due to meat-eaters" — The Hindu, March 14, 2020
- Harry Howard. "Hundreds of Hindus hold a cow urine drinking party in the belief it has the medicinal properties to fight off coronavirus" — The Daily Mail, March 14, 2020
- "Holiday declared for students for 15 days" — National Institute of Engineering, March 13, 2020
- "Q&A on coronaviruses (COVID-19)" — World Health Organization, March 9, 2020
- Puja Awasthi. "'Eating of chicken by Telangana ministers responsible for spread of COVID-19'" — The Week, March 4, 2020
- Neelam Pandey. "Hindu Mahasabha plans gaumutra party with cow-dung cakes to fight coronavirus in India" — ThePrint, March 3, 2020
- Hemanta Kumar Nath. "Cow urine, dung can treat coronavirus, says Assam BJP MLA" — India Today, March 2, 2020
- "Coronavirus Not Virus But an 'Avatar' to Punish Non-vegetarians: Hindu Mahasabha" — News18, February 17, 2020