The Inspired Economist

India’s fundamentalist Hindu political group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS) has taken yet another drastic step in its efforts to cleanse India of foreign influence and promote its ideology of Hindutva, or Hindu-ness: it has created a new commercial drink made from cow urine. (The Times)

The healing properties of cow urine have been referred to in the ancient texts of Ayurveda, India’s natural medicine. However ancient times were witness to happier grass fed cows. Drinking the urine of today’s cattle that feeds on plastics and other waste will likely translate to imbibing huge amounts of toxins!

Ironically though, the RSS’s objective is not medicinal, nor even spiritual but rather fundamentalist. Hindus revere cows and slaughtering them is illegal in most of India. The RSS takes advantage of this and turns it into a political motive.  Although the RSS has been promoting cow urine as a cure for ailments ranging from liver disease to cancer, its Ayurvedic healing aspect is but a pawn in RSS’s overall fundamentalist agenda.

Other tactics that the RSS has used to draw attention in the recent past include killing 67 Christians in the eastern state of Orissa last year, and assaulting women in a pub in Mangalore last month. It has also targeted foreign business in India, as in 1994, when it organised a nationwide boycott of multinational consumer goods, including Pepsi and Coca Cola.

Image Credit: Creative Commons

Tweet This Post

You might also like: