While we love animals immensely, India has taken its love for the cow a notch higher than usual. We've heard different benefits of cow products, across the country, on how cow urine helps curing cancer, or how the cow's milk is yellow because it contains gold or even how cow by-products have a sheer shot cure for Coronavirus. Some of them even have attempted to classify cows as the magical unicorn that'll ever so benevolently benefit us through its various elixirs.

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Cows have a very important place in our country and are even worshipped. In general, you may find people killing and mistreating other animals but a cow is either worshipped or her urine is privatised and used to cure various diseases, supposedly.

Since there is no scientific backing to believe that the cow is the holy cure for everything (except a mere Hindu belief), the Indian government wants to change that, and make others believe of how beneficial a cow really is. For that they obviously need logic and science and a bunch of people who have both the expertise. 

So, on February 17, the Indian government called for an initiative inviting research on the benefits of cow dung, urine, milk and all other by-products from âpure indigenous cowsâ. Called Scientific Utilisation Through Research Augmentation-Prime Products from Indigenous Cows (SUTRA PIC), the event was led by the Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST), the official ministry that spearheads scientific research.

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What they really wanted to do was to have all cow enthusiasts, academics, researchers and startups to come under one roof and prepare a proposal that declares that the cow piss and other by-products have medicinal, nutritional and agricultural benefits, after thorough research of course. The real aim behind this research was manufacturing of cow by-products like toothpaste, mosquito repellent and edibles like milk, butter and ghee, that many believe can cure many ailments including cancer. 

However, there's just one rational problem. The scientists don't want to carry out this research and have clearly said âNOâ to the government. 

The main reason why the scientists are not too keen to carry forth this research is because they believe that glorifying cow products will undermine the credibility of scientific achievements especially when a lot of research has been carried out in the field of cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure and none of these ailments are mentioned in the ancient texts.  Neither do they have a verified source of cow products actually curing any of these diseases.

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âIf this is an open-ended research programme, why is the focus only on cows? Why not other herbivores such as camels or goats â traditional medicine systems also mention products from other herbivores,â Ayan Banerjee, a faculty member at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Kolkata, told The Telegraph in an interview.

Religiously glorifying an animal and marking its popularity through unverified synopsis around the country is something we shouldn't do. Yes, the cow is as important as any other animal and we should uphold all of them equally. 

While we're trying to break cow myths and asking people to leave her urine alone, it looks like people will only understand that in due time when they will stop relying on actual allopathic treatment and start drinking cow urine to cure cancer!

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