‘Not politics but scientific’, says IIT-M director on cow urine row

IIT-Madras director V Kamakoti on Monday reiterated his endorsement on the benefits of cow urine even as he defended that he is a man of science and not politics.

“This is about whether cow urine has scientific value or not. I will forward five research papers published in America, in Nature journal and a patent document to you all, which has scientifically proven what I said that cow urine has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties,” Kamakoti told reporters on campus.

This comes after a video clip of Kamakoti purportedly praising the medicinal value of “Gomutra”, while speaking on protecting indigenous breeds of cows during the Pongal festival that concluded in Tamil Nadu last week became viral and erupted into a political controversy.

Addressing an event at a “Go Samrakshana Sala” in Chennai on January 15, he narrated an anecdote from the life of a sanyasi (seer) and said the ascetic, when he had high fever, consumed gomutra and he was cured. “They asked me about science and cows. That was one part (of the discussion). Then they asked me about gobar gas and organic farming,” Kamakoti said about the five topics he discussed during the event.

Responding to a reporter’s question on the political controversy, Kamakoti smiled and waved his hand to say, “I’m not going into politics. It’s purely scientific. There are these five papers. There is validation and experimentation. Please read and get your inferences.” He added that he views the discussion as a positive outcome for eliciting interest on the topic.

“Indian School of Medicine can research on this (topic) when there is so much interest on this topic in the media ” he said in response to a question on whether IIT-M will research on this. “If faculty members are interested, they can research this (topic) in IIT. We have a department of medical science technology. But, we cannot force anyone to study this topic.”

A day ago, DMK leader TKS Elangovan criticised the IIT Madras’s director’s comment saying that the intention of the Union government is to spoil education in the country. Congress leader Karti P Chidambaram slammed the remark, and said: “Peddling pseudoscience by @iitmadras Director is most unbecoming @IMAIndiaOrg.”

Rationalist outfit Dravidar Kazhagam slammed the “Gomutra” remark saying it went against the truth and was “shameful”. Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam leader K Ramakrishnan said Kamakoti should give proof for his claim or he must tender an apology. “If he does not apologise, we will stage protest against him.”

The IIT director, emphasising on “Go samrakshana,”’ protecting cows, said it has economic, nutritional and environmental benefits. “We can forget Bhoomi Mata (mother earth) if we use fertilisers. The quicker we switch to organic, natural way of farming, only that is good for us,” he said.