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IIT Madras director under fire for praising cow urine’s medicinal value

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IIT Madras director under fire for praising cow urine’s medicinal value
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Chennai: The director of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, V Kamakoti, is facing widespread criticism after he praised the ‘medicinal benefits’ of cow urine in Chennai on January 15.

V Kamakoti made the controversial remarks at ‘Go Samrakshana Sala’ event in the city, which took place alongside the Tamil festival of Maatu Pongal, honouring the contributions of livestock in Tamil culture.

In order to ram home the benefits of the cow urine he recounted an anecdote of a ‘prominent Sanyasi’ who he said recovered from high fever after consuming cow urine.

When the Sanyasi developed fever, he ‘consumed it with much ease. The fever seemed to have disappeared in 15 minutes. So, for antibacterial, antifungal, digestive issues, and irritable bowel syndrome – for many such issues – gomutra is a very important medicine,’ Kamakoti was quoted as saying.

However, people close to V Kamakoti said the IIT director in his speech was calling for organic farming and protecting indigenous cattle breeds.

They added that Kamakoti’s speech was about the importance of sustainable agricultural practices based on published scientific studies exploring bioactive properties of cow urine.

Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram accused Kamakoti of ‘peddling pseudoscience’ and termed it ‘most unbecoming’ of the director.

Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty called for rigorous scientific researches into the alleged benefits of cow urine, adding that they are based on traditional claims and preliminary studies.

The Dravidar Kazhagam, rationalist organization founded by social reformer Periyar, warned Kamakoti of protests unless he presented scientific evidence to support his claims.

A computer scientist, Kamakoti’s ‘areas of research interest include cluster computing, high-performance computing, algorithms, data structures, and computational geometry’.

He won the DRDO Academy Excellence Award in 2013 for his contributions to scientific research and technology development.

He also claimed that increase in cancer cases over the past 15 years stems from the widespread use of synthetic fertilisers and urged organic farming practices.

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TAGS:IIT MadrasV KamakotiCow urine’s medicinal value
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