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Wednesday, March 11, 2020 7:44:44 PM
Hindu Nationalists Are Pushing Magical Remedies for the Coronavirus
"Trump and Modi are the mainstream faces of the global far right"
Alex Jones and Trump evangelists would fit right in.
Ayurvedic medicine and other pseudosciences are being pushed by BJP politicians.
By Bhavya Dore | March 9, 2020, 10:01 AM
Shree Maa Anantanand sits behind medicine made from cow urine, which she uses to treat patients suffering kidney ailments and cancer at her hospital in Ahmedabad, India, on Feb. 27, 2010. Sam Panthaky/AFP via Getty Images
MUMBAI—Worried about the coronavirus? Well, just turn to the ever-useful cow. On March 2, Suman Haripriya, an elected member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said .. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/gaumutra-gobar-may-cure-coronavirus-bjp-mla-tells-assam-assembly/articleshow/74444488.cms .. that cow urine and cow dung could be used to combat the outbreak. Chakrapani Maharaj, a Hindu leader, told .. https://theprint.in/health/hindu-mahasabha-plans-gaumutra-party-with-cow-dung-cakes-to-fight-coronavirus-in-india/375026/ .. a news site he would be organizing an event to educate people on the use of cow products to fight the disease.
Those aren’t the only remedies from the Hindu-nationalist toolbox. Baba Ramdev, a popular guru, told a television channel that Ayurvedic remedies could be deployed. And a few days ago Yogi Adityanath, the fire-breathing Hindu-nationalist chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, exhorted .. https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2020/03/03/prevent-coronavirus-by-overcoming-mental-stress-yogi-adityanath.html .. Indians to practice yoga to overcome stress and stay strong against various diseases, including the coronavirus.
The promotion of nationalist pseudoscience under the BJP has worried .. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01465-3 .. Indian scientists and skeptics for years. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, even some scientists looking to ride the wave have trotted out .. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/02/hindu-nationalists-claim-ancient-indians-had-airplanes-stem-cell-technology-and .. claims about ancient India having had airplanes and stem-cell research, while there have been fierce fights .. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/indian-doctors-fight-against-quackery/ .. over attempts to license traditional medicine practitioners. The government restructured existing departments to create the Ministry of AYUSH .. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_AYUSH .. (the acronym combines several traditional or pseudoscientific schools of medicine), to cover such practices.
Public figures, especially members of the Hindu right, championing folk remedies or upholding ancient wisdom is thus neither new nor surprising. In recent years there have been such gems as: a BJP state chief minister claiming .. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/internet-existed-in-the-days-of-mahabharata-tripura-cm-biplab-deb/articleshow/63803490.cms .. ancient Indians used the Internet, the prime minister himself alluding .. https://www.rediff.com/news/report/modi--reliance-hospital-opening-plastic-surgeon-may-have-fixed-elephants-head-on-ganesha/20141025.htm .. to plastic surgery as the possible reason behind the god Ganesh’s elephant head on a human body, another BJP chief minister asserting .. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/cow-only-animal-that-exhales-oxygen-massaging-it-can-cure-breathing-problems-trivendra-singh-rawat-1573835-2019-07-26 .. that cows exhaled oxygen, and union ministers who have said that both cow urine .. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/health-minister-ashwini-kumar-choubey-cow-urine-used-preparing-medicines-treating-cancer-1596834-2019-09-08 .. and yoga .. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/research-shows-cancer-can-be-cured-by-yoga-shripad-naik/articleshow/51561776.cms?from=mdr .. can be used in treatments for cancer.
Insert: Is it unbelievable that such ideas could be held in 2020? Not any more.
The coronavirus has added fuel to the fire. The Ministry of AYUSH issued .. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1600895 .. a dubious advisory on Jan. 29, shortly after the spread of the virus outside China increased. It was titled “Homoeopathy for Prevention of Corona virus Infections: Unani Medicines useful in symptomatic management of Corona Virus infection” and suggested traditional remedies. A second advisory claimed .. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1600940#.XjFgr6nEzK8.twitter .. the homeopathic medicine “arsenicum album 30” could be used as a preventative prophylactic. Homeopathy is a Western-invented pseudoscience that doles out microscopic doses of treatments, and it has become vastly popular in India. It does not work .. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1800-studies-later-scientists-conclude-homeopathy-doesnt-work-180954534/ .
“Health misinformation has always been an issue, especially since the formation of AYUSH which has been officially spreading misinformation about health,” said Pratik Sinha, the co-founder and editor of Alt News, a fact-checking site, which has run pieces debunking the claims.
So far India has seen 43 confirmed cases of the virus, but no deaths. Given the country’s population density and creaking public health infrastructure, experts fear that the disease could quickly overwhelm health systems if not handled correctly.
And while the virus may be spreading unseen in India, so, more obviously, are a raft of baseless assertions.
-
And while the virus may be spreading unseen in India, so,
more obviously, are a raft of baseless assertions.
-
“It is a big challenge to identify and debunk medical misinformation,” said Nabeela Khan, deputy editor at Health Analytics Asia, a data-driven health news platform. “Even when you debunk it, it hardly reaches people because fake news travels faster … but when influencers and leaders make dubious claims, people tend to fall for it all the more easily…. It is important that politicians say things that are based on some scientific evidence and rationing.”
The government does take the coronavirus issue seriously. This week Modi announced he would skip Holi celebrations—a festival that starts on Monday and usually draws huge crowds for playful events—and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that all international passengers were being screened upon arrival. In Delhi, Rajasthan, and Hyderabad, where infected people are known to have traveled, several others have been quarantined and tested. But as Anant Bhan, a researcher in global health, bioethics, and health policy at Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, pointed out, “What the health ministry is saying and what the Ayush ministry is saying are not necessarily in conjunction.”
The dangers of disinformation and misinformation are obvious: In a developing country with high Internet connectivity and low literacy, bad information could have fatal consequences. “Whether during times of conflict or outbreaks, any irresponsible statement can have very negative implications through fanning fear-mongering and the spread of panic,” said Bhan.
With fake news and general WhatsApp virality both serious problems in India, politicians .. https://scroll.in/article/952731/amit-malviyas-fake-news-fountain-16-pieces-of-misinformation-spread-by-the-bjp-it-cell-chief .. and influencers .. https://www.boomlive.in/paresh-rawal-does-it-again-shares-photoshopped-tweet-of-rahul-gandhi-on-petrol-prices/ .. alike have been guilty of acting irresponsibly.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/09/hindu-nationalists-magical-remedies-coronavirus-bjp-india/
Dr. Jeremy Faust, of Boston's Brigham and Women’s Hospital, sees the Diamond Princess
as a decent test case for evidence as to the mortality rate of COVID-19 ..
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=154282099 .
If the above article it close to factual the mortality rate in India may be another, even if to a lesser extent.
See also:
Three back - India anyone? Is Modi’s India Safe for Muslims?
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=120994871
Biden campaign announces a public health advisory committee on the Virus
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=154288407
"Trump and Modi are the mainstream faces of the global far right"
Alex Jones and Trump evangelists would fit right in.
Ayurvedic medicine and other pseudosciences are being pushed by BJP politicians.
By Bhavya Dore | March 9, 2020, 10:01 AM
Shree Maa Anantanand sits behind medicine made from cow urine, which she uses to treat patients suffering kidney ailments and cancer at her hospital in Ahmedabad, India, on Feb. 27, 2010. Sam Panthaky/AFP via Getty Images
MUMBAI—Worried about the coronavirus? Well, just turn to the ever-useful cow. On March 2, Suman Haripriya, an elected member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said .. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/gaumutra-gobar-may-cure-coronavirus-bjp-mla-tells-assam-assembly/articleshow/74444488.cms .. that cow urine and cow dung could be used to combat the outbreak. Chakrapani Maharaj, a Hindu leader, told .. https://theprint.in/health/hindu-mahasabha-plans-gaumutra-party-with-cow-dung-cakes-to-fight-coronavirus-in-india/375026/ .. a news site he would be organizing an event to educate people on the use of cow products to fight the disease.
Those aren’t the only remedies from the Hindu-nationalist toolbox. Baba Ramdev, a popular guru, told a television channel that Ayurvedic remedies could be deployed. And a few days ago Yogi Adityanath, the fire-breathing Hindu-nationalist chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, exhorted .. https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2020/03/03/prevent-coronavirus-by-overcoming-mental-stress-yogi-adityanath.html .. Indians to practice yoga to overcome stress and stay strong against various diseases, including the coronavirus.
The promotion of nationalist pseudoscience under the BJP has worried .. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01465-3 .. Indian scientists and skeptics for years. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, even some scientists looking to ride the wave have trotted out .. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/02/hindu-nationalists-claim-ancient-indians-had-airplanes-stem-cell-technology-and .. claims about ancient India having had airplanes and stem-cell research, while there have been fierce fights .. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/indian-doctors-fight-against-quackery/ .. over attempts to license traditional medicine practitioners. The government restructured existing departments to create the Ministry of AYUSH .. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_AYUSH .. (the acronym combines several traditional or pseudoscientific schools of medicine), to cover such practices.
Public figures, especially members of the Hindu right, championing folk remedies or upholding ancient wisdom is thus neither new nor surprising. In recent years there have been such gems as: a BJP state chief minister claiming .. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/internet-existed-in-the-days-of-mahabharata-tripura-cm-biplab-deb/articleshow/63803490.cms .. ancient Indians used the Internet, the prime minister himself alluding .. https://www.rediff.com/news/report/modi--reliance-hospital-opening-plastic-surgeon-may-have-fixed-elephants-head-on-ganesha/20141025.htm .. to plastic surgery as the possible reason behind the god Ganesh’s elephant head on a human body, another BJP chief minister asserting .. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/cow-only-animal-that-exhales-oxygen-massaging-it-can-cure-breathing-problems-trivendra-singh-rawat-1573835-2019-07-26 .. that cows exhaled oxygen, and union ministers who have said that both cow urine .. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/health-minister-ashwini-kumar-choubey-cow-urine-used-preparing-medicines-treating-cancer-1596834-2019-09-08 .. and yoga .. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/research-shows-cancer-can-be-cured-by-yoga-shripad-naik/articleshow/51561776.cms?from=mdr .. can be used in treatments for cancer.
Insert: Is it unbelievable that such ideas could be held in 2020? Not any more.
The coronavirus has added fuel to the fire. The Ministry of AYUSH issued .. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1600895 .. a dubious advisory on Jan. 29, shortly after the spread of the virus outside China increased. It was titled “Homoeopathy for Prevention of Corona virus Infections: Unani Medicines useful in symptomatic management of Corona Virus infection” and suggested traditional remedies. A second advisory claimed .. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1600940#.XjFgr6nEzK8.twitter .. the homeopathic medicine “arsenicum album 30” could be used as a preventative prophylactic. Homeopathy is a Western-invented pseudoscience that doles out microscopic doses of treatments, and it has become vastly popular in India. It does not work .. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1800-studies-later-scientists-conclude-homeopathy-doesnt-work-180954534/ .
“Health misinformation has always been an issue, especially since the formation of AYUSH which has been officially spreading misinformation about health,” said Pratik Sinha, the co-founder and editor of Alt News, a fact-checking site, which has run pieces debunking the claims.
So far India has seen 43 confirmed cases of the virus, but no deaths. Given the country’s population density and creaking public health infrastructure, experts fear that the disease could quickly overwhelm health systems if not handled correctly.
And while the virus may be spreading unseen in India, so, more obviously, are a raft of baseless assertions.
-
And while the virus may be spreading unseen in India, so,
more obviously, are a raft of baseless assertions.
-
“It is a big challenge to identify and debunk medical misinformation,” said Nabeela Khan, deputy editor at Health Analytics Asia, a data-driven health news platform. “Even when you debunk it, it hardly reaches people because fake news travels faster … but when influencers and leaders make dubious claims, people tend to fall for it all the more easily…. It is important that politicians say things that are based on some scientific evidence and rationing.”
The government does take the coronavirus issue seriously. This week Modi announced he would skip Holi celebrations—a festival that starts on Monday and usually draws huge crowds for playful events—and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that all international passengers were being screened upon arrival. In Delhi, Rajasthan, and Hyderabad, where infected people are known to have traveled, several others have been quarantined and tested. But as Anant Bhan, a researcher in global health, bioethics, and health policy at Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, pointed out, “What the health ministry is saying and what the Ayush ministry is saying are not necessarily in conjunction.”
The dangers of disinformation and misinformation are obvious: In a developing country with high Internet connectivity and low literacy, bad information could have fatal consequences. “Whether during times of conflict or outbreaks, any irresponsible statement can have very negative implications through fanning fear-mongering and the spread of panic,” said Bhan.
With fake news and general WhatsApp virality both serious problems in India, politicians .. https://scroll.in/article/952731/amit-malviyas-fake-news-fountain-16-pieces-of-misinformation-spread-by-the-bjp-it-cell-chief .. and influencers .. https://www.boomlive.in/paresh-rawal-does-it-again-shares-photoshopped-tweet-of-rahul-gandhi-on-petrol-prices/ .. alike have been guilty of acting irresponsibly.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/09/hindu-nationalists-magical-remedies-coronavirus-bjp-india/
Dr. Jeremy Faust, of Boston's Brigham and Women’s Hospital, sees the Diamond Princess
as a decent test case for evidence as to the mortality rate of COVID-19 ..
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=154282099 .
If the above article it close to factual the mortality rate in India may be another, even if to a lesser extent.
See also:
Three back - India anyone? Is Modi’s India Safe for Muslims?
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=120994871
Biden campaign announces a public health advisory committee on the Virus
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=154288407
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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