ISLAMABAD: Indian spiritual leader Aniruddhacharya has found himself at the center of a fresh social media controversy after posting a video from a Chicago hospital, where he claims he is undergoing a blood test.
The video, posted on his Instagram account, has triggered a wave of criticism from social media users who have juxtaposed his apparent reliance on conventional medical testing with his earlier public advocacy of traditional remedies, including cow urine, or gomutra.
The Instagram Reel shows Aniruddhacharya at a hospital in Chicago as a blood sample is being drawn for testing.
Aniruddhacharya explains in the video that he met an Indian doctor in Chicago, who asked him to get his blood tested. “That’s why I am getting my blood tested, and I also ask you all to undergo such tests at least every six months or once a year.”
But for many viewers, the significance of the video lies elsewhere.
Aniruddhacharya has repeatedly spoken about the religious and purported health benefits of cows and cow products. His comments have attracted particular attention when they have crossed from religious belief into claims about illness and treatment.
The latest Chicago video has consequently prompted some users to ask a pointed question: if modern medicine is being used when the preacher himself needs medical investigation, why should patients be encouraged to rely on unproven remedies for serious diseases?
X subscriber @Deb_livnletliv writes in a post, "But he himself will go all the way to Chicago, USA for treatment. Fraudster won't even trust Indian Hospitals, forget cow urine."
Arfa Khanum commented on the same social media platform, "Cow urine for cancer, gobar [cow dung] for skin ... but Chicago hospital for himself. Baba’s faith ends where the dollar begins."
Yet another X user, Samanta Kr. Majumder, declares the Indian Gurus as fraudsters, and says, "They know maximum cow belt people are illiterates and idiots who can be fooled easily."
Bobde Dada says that Aniruddhacharya advises his followers to consume cow's urine for treatment, but he himself is enjoying luxury massage treatments in Chicago.
Another X user writes in an X post, "Aniruddhacharya is getting his treatment done in Chicago, and he will ask the blind devotees to get their treatment done with cow dung and urine ...."
Navjot Kaur Sidhu controversy
In a video posted by Aniruddhacharya in January, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, wife of former cricketer and politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, spoke about her cancer journey and said she consumed cow urine and used it for bathing. Aniruddhacharya discussed her experience in the context of her recovery.
The video had provoked criticism from cancer specialists, who warned that an individual's experience cannot establish that a substance cures cancer.
Oncologists quoted by Hindustan Times said that there is no scientific evidence that cow urine cures breast cancer or any other cancer and warned that such claims could encourage vulnerable patients to delay proven treatment.
However, later Mrs Sidhu clarified her position, saying that allopathic cancer treatment was essential and specifically credited surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation with saving her life.