On the May 9, 2021, Reuters published pictures of a group of men in Gujarat smearing their bodies with cow faeces. Once a week, the men go to a cow shelter and bathe in a concoction made of cow faeces and cow urine. This practice emanates from the belief that cow excreta improves immunity, wards off COVID-19 and protects them from other diseases. One of the men, Gautam Manilal Borisa, who works as an associate manager at a pharmaceuticals company, said:
We see…even doctors come here. Their belief is that this therapy improves their immunity and they can go and tend to patients with no fear.
Some believe that this ‘treatment,’ based on an Ayurvedic approach, purifies the body and protects people from the risk of infection. At an Ayurvedic centre in North Gujarat, an expert in Ayurvedic medicine said, “for fever, we are giving them gau mutra ark (cow urine concentrate) with giloy and neem extract, while for cough we are giving them gau mutra ark with giloy, neem, clove and various other herbs to help them free up their lungs.” Patients are also being made to gargle with gau mutra (cow urine).
Vallabh Kathiria, the Chairman of Rashtriya Gau Seva Ayog, says several such efforts are underway at cow shelters across the state. Kathiria, who served as the minister of state for health and family welfare in the Vajpayee Government, claimed gargling with cow urine will clear the respiratory tract. He also claims cow dung has antiseptic properties that can be used to treat COVID patients.
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