New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bhopal MP Pragya Thakur has said drinking cow urine has kept her safe from contracting Covid-19.
In a video widely circulated on social media Monday, Thakur can be seen addressing a group of people at a function in Bhopal Sunday, without wearing a mask.
During her address, Thakur said, “If we drink urine of desi cow every day, it will prevent infection in our lungs.”
She added: “I am not well but I drink cow urine every day. That’s why I don’t need to take any medicine for Covid, and I have not contracted Covid, either.”
According to a report in Lokmat, Thakur also asked people to plant banyan and tulsi trees to battle the oxygen crisis in the country, claiming if these were planted widely in India, there would never be an oxygen shortage in the country.
Many Covid patients need the assistance of liquid oxygen to help them breathe as saturation level drops in their body. Atmospheric oxygen isn’t the medical solution for them.
Thakur’s comments came months after she was admitted to AIIMS Delhi in December 2020, when she exhibited Covid-related symptoms like shortness of breath and chest pain. She, however, tested negative. Thakur also has a number of comorbidities such as asthma, hypertension and diabetes.
Also read: No RSS clean chit — Why BJP’s back-patting leaders must hear Mohan Bhagwat’s speech again
No scientific evidence
The Indian Medical Association has already said there is no scientific evidence to prove that cow dung or urine help prevent or cure Covid. Recent reports have also suggested that the use of cow dung may be linked to the outbreak for the deadly black fungus in certain patients.
This isn’t the first time that Thakur hailed cow urine as a cure-all or propagated unscientific claims related to bovines — she had earlier credited her habit of drinking cow urine for curing her breast cancer. However, Thakur reportedly underwent bilateral mastectomy to prevent her cancer from recurring.
She had also claimed just petting a cow can control a person’s blood pressure.
Thakur is also not the first BJP leader to espouse unfounded claims about the mythical benefits of cow urine or dung to cure or prevent Covid.
Earlier in May, Surendra Singh, BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh, had recommended drinking cow urine every day along with a glass of cold water to prevent Covid. At an event in West Bengal’s Durgapur in 2020, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh had also urged people to drink cow urine to boost immunity against Covid.
Her past controversial comments
BJP MP Pragya Thakur, who was an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, is not new to controversy.
In the past, she has also said the opposition parties have used black magic against the BJP after the deaths of party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, and that Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad Chief Hemant Karkare had died because of her curse.
She has twice referred to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as a “patriot”. In 2019, she had to tender an apology in the Lok Sabha for these remarks.
Also read: We did it, say AAP leaders on posters in Delhi criticising Modi’s vaccine policy