The ruling party of India – BJP has never declined its strong affiliation to cows. In several instances in the past, the members of the saffron party have come up with a spate of theories related to cows. In its latest salvo, a BJP leader from the state of Uttar Pradesh claimed that cows are Hindus and their last rites should be carried as per Hindu rituals.
This comes barely days after Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh said that cows are the only animals that breath-out oxygen, baffling the scientific community.
Cows Are Hindu
On July 28, Ranjiv Shrivastava, a former municipality chairperson and husband of the current chairperson, in a municipality board meeting said that the cows are Hindus in Uttar Pradesh and their last rites should not be performed according to Muslim rituals i.e. burial of mortal remains.
The leader from Barabanki said that the dead cows should not be buried and a separate electric crematorium should be built for them.
“The last rites of cows should be done according to Hindu rituals. I oppose the burial of dead cows, which is a Muslim,” he said.
Shrivastava further proposed that the dead bodies of cows should be wrapped in white and put in traditional Hindu pyre.
He requested the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to look into the matter. Shrivastava said that he will try his best to get his proposal passed for a separate crematorium for cows in Barabanki.
Cow Exhale Oxygen
Last week, Uttarakhand Chief Minister came up with a theory on cows that sent the scientific community into a tizzy. CM Trivendra Singh was seen extolling medicinal properties of cow milk and urine in a function.
In a video doing rounds on social media, CM can be heard claiming that the cows are the only animal in the world that inhale and exhale oxygen.
#Cow is the only animal that exhales #oxygen, says #Uttarakhand CM https://t.co/edPjMe5B48 pic.twitter.com/tmB9WBH67P
— EconomicTimes (@EconomicTimes) July 27, 2019
He further said that massaging a cow can also cure one’s breathing problems and if one stays in close proximity with the animal it can help get rid of tuberculosis.
Earlier in 2017, Rajasthan Education Minister Vasudev Devnani had made similar claims.
Following the backlash, an official from the CM office defended the remarks by saying that the CM only reiterated the common belief of people in the hills of Uttarkhand.
A few months back, MP from Bhopal – Sadvi Pragya on national TV claimed that drinking “Gau mutra” (cow urine) helped her to get rid of breast cancer. Praising the benefit of cow urine she said, “ I am a living example of its effectiveness.”
