Cow dung becomes a cure-all in India
India's main opposition party, the Hindu nationalist BJP, has begun selling medicine and cosmetics made of, among other things, cows' urine and dung.
A stall offering a selection of potions and lotions containing five cow products - urine, dung, butter, milk and curd - opened earlier this month at the BJP headquarters in Delhi and is now doing brisk business.
Marketed under the brand name Goratna or "jewels of the cow", the medicines are supposed to cure a variety of illnesses and ailments such as cancer, constipation, diarrhoea and diabetes.
The best seller so far has been "kamdhenu ghanvati" - a multi-purpose pill that the stall manager, Manoj Kumar, claimed was a "one-stop" cure for liver diseases, diabetes, haemorrhoids and asthma.
"More and more people are visiting the stall as news of its opening spreads," he said.
"It's very good, very effective," a BJP official, S P Sharma, said after buying a cream he claimed helped his daughter get rid of pimples.
According to Purushottam Toshniwal, the general secretary of the co-operative that makes the products, Goratna manufacturers followed "solid scientific processes" based on ancient Indian herbal remedies, known as Ayurveda.
Though many Indian scientists and doctors believe in the efficacy of some Ayurvedic medicines, few agree that cow urine enhances their effect. Cows are sacred to India's 800 million Hindus and are often used by political parties to try to influence voters.
