Hindu nationalists in India have begun making a mint after marketing cow's urine as a health cure for ailments ranging from liver disease to obesity and even cancer.

The urine, which is being sold under the label 'Gift of the Cow', is being enthusiastically promoted by the government of Gujerat, one of three states in India dominated by Hindu nationalists. The urine is collected daily from almost 600 shelters for rescued and wounded cattle set up by the Vishwa Hindu Parisad (VHP), or World Council of Holy men, as part of a government cow-protection programme to save the country's sacred, but often maltreated, beasts.

Advertised as being "sterilised and completely fresh" it is available for 20 rupees (30p) a bottle at about 50 centres run by the VHP in Gujerat, from 200 of their outlets in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, and at fairs and religious festivals throughout India. It also comes in tablets or a cream mixed with other traditional medicinal herbs.

Incredibly, demand is currently outstripping supply.

"It's very popular because the results are very good, but we've got a shortage," said Dr Jadi Patel at the VHP's headquarters in Ahmedabad. He explained that the cow protection centres had been formed after the last grand gathering of saddhus, or holy men, to save cows from "unofficial slaughter by Muslims".

Killing cows is illegal in most Indian states but there are an estimated 32,000 illegal abattoirs and 13.7 million cows are believed to be slaughtered by Muslims for the leather industry.

The cow protection commission was set up to protect the holy cows, and research conducted by doctors involved in the project revealed that the cows' urine had medicinal properties.

The idea of using it came from the central Indian headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the powerful Hindu nationalist ideologues behind the country's Bharata Janata Party (BJP), where five scientists are researching its beneficial effects. Like all devout Hindus, RSS members believe that all cow products are sacred. The healing properties of cow dung and cow's urine are also mentioned in ancient Hindu texts. So enthusiastic is the Gujerat government about its cows' urine medicines that it has asked the Indian Institute of Management to compile a database of traditional cures and verify the Hindu nationalists' findings. The academics have also discovered that cow's urine is an extremely effective pesticide and plant fertiliser and are now developing for human consumption new drugs that contain the "gift of the cow".

• Story originally published by:
Daily Telegrph, London via Irish Independent, Dublin / Ireland | Julian West - Sept 03.01

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