A political row has broken out in India over the nomination of IIT Madras director V Kamakoti for the Padma Shri award. Sridhar Vembu, founder of the technology company Zoho Corporation, hit back on the social media platform X after a jibe from the Kerala branch of the Congress.

Kamakoti, who has served as director of IIT Madras since 2022, has been nominated for the Padma Shri for his contribution to education and research. Responding, Kamakoti said the honour inspires him to work with greater commitment towards the "Viksit Bharat 2047" goal. He said it was not a personal achievement but the result of a collective effort.

After the announcement, however, Kerala Congress posted a sarcastic message on X saying Kamakoti was receiving the honour for "cutting-edge research" on cow urine at IIT Madras and taking it to the world stage.

The comment stems mainly from remarks Kamakoti made last year, when he claimed that cow urine has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties and could help cure various diseases including IBS. The remarks triggered controversy across India.

Critics asked how the head of a top technology institute could make such statements. In reply, Kamakoti said the anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties of cow urine were scientifically proven.

Pointing to those remarks, the Kerala Congress post on X said:

Congratulations to V Kamakoti on receiving the honour. The nation recognises your bleeding edge research on Cow Urine at IIT Madras, taking Gomutra to world stage.

Responding to the jibe, Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu said Professor Kamakoti is a deep-tech expert involved in microprocessor design. He is director of IIT Madras, one of India's best technology institutions, and also serves on the National Security Advisory Board. In Vembu's view, Kamakoti fully deserves the honour.

Vembu added that he would stand by Kamakoti on scientific grounds. He claimed cow dung and cow urine contain microbiomes that could be beneficial to humans, and said many people refuse to accept such research as scientific because of a colonial mindset. He also remarked that if Harvard or MIT one day published research on the subject, many would then accept it as true.

Kerala Congress replied in even sharper language, saying research does not mean quoting Western papers without relevance. It asked what the practical results of research on cow dung and cow urine were, and why only cow waste was being studied and not that of buffaloes, goats or humans.

The Congress also said major irregularities had been found in a Madhya Pradesh government-funded research project on treating cancer with panchagavya. According to the allegation, of a project worth about Rs 3.5 crore, Rs 1 crore 92 lakh was shown as spent on buying cow urine and cow dung, when the actual cost was only Rs 15 to 20 lakh. The rest was allegedly spent on buying vehicles, fuel and trips to Goa and Bengaluru. The Congress asked where the practical results of this research were.

The party claimed that more scandals would come to light if such projects were investigated. It said there was no disagreement about the need for cancer research, but asked why there was such insistence that only cow urine or cow dung could cure cancer.

Finally, Kerala Congress directly challenged Sridhar Vembu, asking why, if he truly believed in the miraculous benefits of cow urine, his company was not seen investing in such research. In the Congress's words, if cow urine could cure cancer it would be a huge contribution to the world, and in that case Vembu should prove it with action, not words.

The report draws on NDTV.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.