Cow Urine Creating A Storm!

Cow Urine Creating A Storm!​

Today’s newspapers have carried a news item that made me pause and wonder, how intolerant and narrow-minded our society is becoming? According to the report,

“Chohan (Pak minister, Fayyazul Chohan) had referred to the Hindu community as "cow urine-drinking people" at a recent press conference, as per IANS.
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“I was addressing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indian armed forces and their media not the Hindu community in Pakistan,” he said.

“I apologise if my remarks hurt the Hindu community in Pakistan,” Chohan said. “My remarks were in no way directed at Pakistan’s Hindu community.”

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government “will not tolerate this nonsense”, party leader Naeemul Haque, who is special assistant to the prime minister on political affairs, said on Monday night in response to Chohan’s remarks.

“The derogatory and insulting remarks against the Hindu community by Fayyaz Chohan the Punjab Info Minister demand strict action,” he said.

“PTI Punjab government has removed Fayyaz Chohan from the post of Punjab Information Minister following derogatory remarks about the Hindu community. Bashing someone’s faith should not b a part of any narrative.Tolerance is the first & foremost pillar on which #Pakistan was built.”
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Pak's Punjab Province Minister Sacked Over 'Anti-Hindu Remarks'

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On 18th Oct. 2016, I had posted a blog on another forum, on a similar subject. I quote:

“I am very upset today. Some of you may think I am silly to worry over a non-issue or you may share my sentiments and support me.

I have known this Muslim gentleman for nearly four decades and he is my best friend’s husband. From my point of view, our religious differences never mattered and what mattered to me was a simple friendship that we shared. As with all relationships, even this relationship had seen many ups and downs but it always survived beautifully. This was something I was personally very proud of. Today this relationship is being threatened by his attitude and his indifference towards my basic identity as an Indian and a Hindu.

Ever since WhatsApp made its presence in our lives it has built relationships, mended many bridges in communication (it is free you see, people don’t mind messaging or chatting) but it has also created a lot of unpleasantness. Coming back to this man, he is involved in some Muslim religious and community work. Lately, he had been sending many messages spreading Islamic beliefs and sometimes, messages that directly and indirectly criticised other religions. I had ignored them thinking that he was, after all, only forwarding messages and he was not the creator of those messages. On my part, occasionally, in a subtle way, I used to drive the message of secularism and tolerance to him. Since he is much older than I, I never used a firm tone with him.

Today he sent me a video on 'The favourite drinks of different nations.' The video opens with a clip showing the backside of a urinating cow and a Hindu lady collecting the same! Then the video talks of various countries and their favourite drinks like the fruit juice, vodka, beer, sherbet etc and finally the battering of the Indians begins. The video shows images of Hindus drinking or collecting cow urine. It mischievously states that cow urine is the favourite drink of Indians!

I had the choice of laughing it off and ignoring it, but I could not do so. Something in it ticked me off.

I responded immediately on WhatsApp,

“Neither you nor I drink cow urine; aren’t we Indians?”

Then I pointed out that based on Ayurvedic principles, for health benefits, some people consume it as a medicine. This does not make cow urine, a favourite drink of Indians!

I also pointed out that in many other countries worldwide, how poop and urine are used for their beauty and medicinal benefits. Finally, I requested him not to circulate such hate mongering/ ridiculing videos that belittle India or the Indians. My tone was firm.

I had assumed that this gentleman would see sense. I was in for a rude shock when he replied obstinately, “This is the reality. Why are you denying it? Generally, it is the human tendency to not accept the truth. There is nothing personal here.”

I replied, ”I am an Indian, so are you. I don’t drink cow urine nor is it the favourite drink of any of my relatives or friends. Do you drink it? How can you say it is not personal when the video is directly ridiculing Indians, in general, and Hindus, in particular? I love my country and I don’t think it is funny when an idiot generalises and says that Indians’ favourite drink is cow urine!

Before accepting the reality, check how many Indians really drink it…it is just a minuscule and that too for health reasons. There is an established scientific principle behind it. Please google it.”

I further added, “I am really upset that you do not identify yourself as an Indian and you are okay with such ridicule. You are circulating a material that is malicious and its intention is to attack Indians/ Hindus. How can I not take it personally when I am a proud Indian and a Hindu? This kind of hate-filled messages kills the beauty of religions and their people. It is wrong to circulate such messages that alienate people.”

As I did not want any more unpleasantness to ruin my day, I blocked him and I have severed my contact with him and his wife (my friend)!

Now, I am questioning myself whether I was right or was I being over sensitive? I can’t understand, how could that man tolerate when the video in question ridicules Indians? Does that mean, India is synonymous only with the Hindus? Then what will happen to these Muslims who do not identify themselves as Indians? Do they have to leave the country, as some of the Hindu fundamentalists say? How can I ever trust such people who are all the time praising the other countries (for their religion and wealth), while deriding their own native country and are so indifferent towards its dignity? How will my country be safe and healthy, if her own citizens do not stand up for her?

I am afraid that what seems like a little drop today, won’t take long to become an ocean.”

In response, I had some passionate responses from the accomplished fellow bloggers there. I share a few here:


· I admire your courage to express your feelings and thoughts with such honesty and integrity on such a controversial topic and make it public and in the process, you have ignited many minds to think, and participate in democratic conversations. More power to your journalistic endeavours. Keep the candle burning and illuminate many more minds to bring about the much needed social awareness and change for the larger good of the society. You make me proud.


· People of all communities, castes and religions together make this country of ours. People from all groups must stand up and protect their motherland. Thanks for taking up this issue. Regards.

· Some Indians do drink cow urine as a religious practice considering cow as mother and some other as medicine. Some of the medicines sold by Ram Dev do contain cow urine. But it is wrong to say all Indians drink cow urine.

· You have brought up a very sensitive issue. Ridiculing someone else's religion or beliefs as such is wrong and especially in a country like India where secularism is supposed to be the basic theme for so-called unity that we have. It's sad that some people are trying to tear the thin fabric of unity apart but what are they gaining? Sadly today in India, very few will say that they are Indians first. Do people know that in health drinks bulls semen is used, and the red dye used for enhancing the colour of many food products comes from beetles? The most exotic coffee in the world is made from the beans digested and discharged in cat's poo? Then there are people in the world eating live insects. The Chinese eat every creature thinkable. The Koreans eat the brain of a live monkey and so on...there are hundreds of instances but if one is bent upon ridiculing religion or a race, he will find a reason to. Good that you have blocked him. It might have hurt to have lost a friend but some people are not worthy of being befriended.
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(Some of you must be wondering what was my friend doing all the while and what were her reactions?

She is very poor in communication and in spite of my repeated coaxing, she wouldn't communicate much on some pretext or the other except for some telephonic talk or personal visits once in a way and I had accepted this aspect of her in totality. Her entire family was extremely fond of me and as I knew her husband since my teens, I was comfortable communicating with him.

Sadly, my friend didn't try to reach out to me even after the above incident. So I decided to let go of this friendship.)

It is erroneous to generalise or ridicule community practices in social media and the worst being, disassociating themselves from their basic identity as Indians. To me, such people are akin to termites and such other pests. When other communities are spoken about derisively, communal harmony will be disrupted and the social fabric gets torn apart. I firmly believe that as educated people, we should know to regulate our speech and also to communicate with sensitivity.

It is sad that in our zeal to glorify our religion or community, we don’t bat an eye-lid before denigrating other religions or communities. We forget how poisonous our intolerances and prejudices could be and how they can erode the peace and well being of our society or the secular nature of our nation/ world.

When all religions speak of one God and when many great people have preached that our paths may be different but our goal remains the same, why do some people still try to disturb the social fabric and try for one-upmanship? Can we, as a civilized and educated society stop such elements in their tracks?

A few links on Cow Urine benefits:

Gomutra - Wikipedia

9 Benefits of Cow Urine - By Jains Cow Urine Therapy Health Clinic | Lybrate

(PDF) REVIEW ARTICLE BENEFITS OF COW URINE – A REVIEW


Some of the different practices around the world:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2017/05/26/tree-climbing-goats-scatter-seeds-by-spitting/#3d1fbb973520

http://www.most-expensive.coffee/

https://islamqa.info/en/answers/83423/the-benefits-of-drinking-camel-urine

https://migrationology.com/how-to-eat-scary-insects-worms-and-bugs-in-thailand/

The people who drink human blood

Extraordinary Things You Can Do With Sperm

 

Thank you, dear Satchi, for these soothing words. Loss of a 3 decade old friendship is painful but to me the sheer insensitivity of people hurts more. As a senior citizen, he should have been the guide for the younger generation. With his status and exposure, he could have changed youngsters from being insane fanatics. But... when respected people (like him) and the political leaders choose to indulge in subversive activities and mislead the youngsters and followers, how can we progress together secularly?

 

@Afresh and @mbharani, thanks for the likes. This topic is important especially in the current scenario; it would be nice to have your views. I look forward to it.

 

Well said, periamma. That narrow mindedness is really bad; looks like no amount of qualification or international experience can educate a person, unless he realizes the need for it from within.

 

Yes, ridiculing Sardars was common then. They had to even knock the court doors. Such insensitive jokes have reduced a lot now, though once in a while we still get such forwards.

 

I avoid discussions; I do not forward such jokes, I delete them.