The TLDR: Yesterday, an anti-mask video was shared by a self-proclaimed doctor—and promptly went viral. But thanks to good folks on Twitter, we soon discovered that the bad doctor is not a random quack, but a highly popular health guru with a large digital empire. We take a closer look at Chowdhury and two related trends: the growing resistance to masks, and an industry of quack corona medicine—supported by the government.

Remind me about this video?

It was shared by Chowdhury on Twitter and featured four young educated urban types who spouted the usual anti-mask propaganda. The main slogan: ‘Mask Se Azaadi’. The links were taken down by Twitter, and Chowdhury’s account has been suspended. 

So who is this Chowdhury?

Not a random quack: as many of us may like to believe. As Nilesh Christopher notes in his excellent article for Rest of World, 

“Over the years, Chowdhury has built an expansive digital empire through online nutrition training courses, certification programs, and consultancy services. He employs a 50-person social media team to man his hotline and share his videos across 170 WhatsApp channels… Since early February, Chowdhury’s dozen YouTube videos about the “myth” of the coronavirus have amassed more than 5 million views. His Telegram channel gained more than 13,000 followers in a week, and in the past two months, his fan following on YouTube has grown by one-third, to 952,000 subscribers.”

And Chowdhury has political connections. Back in 2015, then Delhi Health Minister was announced as the chief guest at a Siri Ford event hosted by Chowdhury—but the plan was cancelled after pushback from the Delhi Medical Association. 

One of his clients is KB Tumane, a Shiv Sena MP from Maharashtra, who connected him to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan (see screenshot of tweeted photo which has also been pulled from Chowdhury’s FB page). To be fair, there is no evidence that the minister has taken any of his Covid advice.

Definitely not a doctor: Unsurprisingly, Chowdhury has zero medical credentials. His resume instead looks like this:

• A degree in Production Engineering from Punjab Engineering College
• A starring role in the flop Bollywood flick ‘Yaad Rakhenge’ in 2005.
• A PR-driven jhagda with KJo in 2006 over the title of ‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna’—which Chowdhury claimed to have registered.
• A Guinness world record in memory—which may be total bs—but nevertheless garnered him plenty of coverage in mainstream media.
• The final pivot to medicine in 2013. His spurious qualification: “an honorary Ph.D. in diabetes studies from a recently deregistered university in Zambia.”

A history of quackery: Chowdhury first made a big splash when he claimed to have developed a 72-hour cure for diabetes. He then followed it up with a healthy dose of AIDS denialism. The highlight: 

“[A] brief video on YouTube arguing that HIV is not real, and that anti-retroviral medication actually causes AIDS. He offered to inject himself with the blood of someone who had tested positive.”

His cure for Covid: Chowdhury claims that this is just another kind of flu and “can be cured by boosting immunity.” The treatment: a three-day diet of coconut water, citrus juice, and vegetables. FYI: copious amounts of fruits and vegetables are the go-to cure for the bad doctor, be it diabetes or Covid. He’s also authored an ebook ‘Corona: The Scandal of the Millennium’ that offers home remedies, and claims that the pandemic is a global conspiracy cooked up by the WHO and China. 

In sum: The anti-mask video is just the tip of a vast and well-established edifice of fraud.

Ok, but this is just him…

A million quacks: No, Chowdhury is just one among a million quack doctors estimated by the Indian Medical Association. And it doesn’t help that nearly 60% of doctors practice without a license. But more importantly, Chowdhury-style quackery is nurtured by the government—specifically its AYUSH ministry which has a shameful track record of promoting all sorts of dubious cures for Covid. 

A vast market: We may smirk at ‘cow urine’ parties, but coronavirus denialism taps into great numbers of Indians who are susceptible to such fraud. One set is those in remote or poor communities who do not have access to proper health care. The other: “affluent and educated class in the cities, who have read half-baked internet posts and develop strong skepticism towards modern medicines.”

The pandemic effect: Rising anxiety has made the likes of Chowdhury more popular than ever. As Rest Of World concludes: “[H]e seems to have no shortage of new clients, and his fan base is growing. In these dark times, he is offering a sense of security. Even if it’s false, sometimes that’s all people want.”

Also, people are getting tired. The anti-mask video was targeted at the urban middle class, but social distancing fatigue is already spreading in rural and small town India. As one 50-year-old diabetic blithely told Mint: “I often hang out at a busy neighbourhood grocery store—without masks, nothing. Both the store owner and I are fine. Maybe we've had it already without symptoms."

The bottomline: The ugliest things reveal themselves in the darkest of times. But we—the affluent, urban English-speaking Indians—are more ignorant than ever of what is out there. That’s why the anti-mask video came as a shock. If nothing else, it is a bracing reminder of how socially distanced we are—in every sense—from many of our fellow citizens. And our corona bubbles have made us even more so.

Reading list

• You can read about the anti-mask video over at The Print. 
• Rest of World has an excellent deep dive on Chowdhury. Bad Science’s fact-check rips his resume apart.
• If you want to read examples of his quackery, The Statesman has published a number of op-eds, including one on Bill Clinton and this on Steve Jobs. Or head over to his OTT website.
• Undark has two excellent stories: a recent piece on alternative medicine and Covid, and a 2018 look at AIDS denialism.
• Also a very good read: Vidya Krishnan in The Atlantic on how alternative medicine—which has genuine value—has been politicised and turned into pseudoscience.
• Mint reports on growing Covid fatigue in rural India.