How Ramdev got fixed into RSS scheme of things by raising 'false' sense of pride

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*
Ram Kishan Yadav or Ramdev is a product of grand Hindutva package that works through raising 'cultural' issues. He has indeed succeeded in reaching Indian households, even outside, through his yoga. As we wait for miracles in India, he seemed to be the 'miracle' man. All those who didn't want to put their bodies to trouble felt that his miracles were boon for them. The business started once he became a brand.
Powerful lobbies entered in and his Patanjali started producing ayurvedic products. He was one of the promoters of 'India against corruption' along with other babas like Sri Sri Ravishankar, who seems to have vanished and ceded his space to another spokesperson of Hindutva called 'Satguru', whose story of violating the land law in Coimbatore has been known to all.
Ramdev's empire at Hardwar has also lots of ifs and buts but the Narendra Modi government has been extraordinarily soft towards him. Patanjali was established as a non-profitable trust earning huge profits through income tax exemptions, a difficult task for other NGOs and organisations to get these days. Slowly, he started entering into our newsrooms by sponsoring programmes. Today, Ramdev's Patanjali is sponsor of large number of news programmes of all major channels.
Ramdev fixed into RSS scheme of things very well by raising false 'sense of pride' and using the same narratives as the Sangh Parivar has indulged in terming all those who differ with them as anti-national. Nobody questions Ram Kishan Yadav when he teaches yoga to people. It it good that we should learn it and keep fit but the problem starts when he ventured in every issue and make those comments which, if made by any other person, would have landed him/her in jail.
He launched Coronil product in the presence of two Union Minister, Harsh Vardhan and Nitin Gadkari, claiming that the product is approved by World Health Organisation (WHO). It was shameful thing to have made the claim in front of the Union Health Minister which was rejected by WHO immediately. But neither Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan nor Ram Kishan Yadav felt apologetic about it. In any other country, the government would have faced serious crisis for promoting such fake products, but then in India these fake ideas are the trump-card of Sangh parivar.
A few days back Ram Kishan Yadav made two insensitive remarks which should have forced the government to act against him. His first remark was against the people who were gasping for oxygen. He said that there is enough oxygen in the air and we need not worry about it and that it is surprising for people were dying of oxygen.
He exact word were: "Marte hain aise hi. Arey, bhagwaan ne muft mein oxygen de rakhi hai. (People say) oxygen ki kami pad rahi hai...bhagwaan ne saara bramhmand bhar rakha hai oxygen se... le toh le. Bahar cylinder dhoondh rahe hain, to apne bheetar do cylinder laga rakhe hain... cylinder kam pad gaye".
Ram Kishan Yadav is promoting 'positivity' as the government wants him to and that is why he has spread so much hatred and negativity. There was no reaction from BJP, RSS or the Government of India, though social media was enraged at this cruel and barbaric remark.
Later, Ram Kishan Yadav made a much bigger and outrageous remark against the medical fraternity. He mocked at modern science and said that so many thousand doctors had died due to coronavirus, so when the doctors are unable to 'protect' themselves how will they protect others? He appeared to claim he was a bigger doctor.
About 750 doctors have died due to Covid-19. Thousands of health workers worked day in and night to protect us. Many of them died. Ram Kishan Yadav mocked at them insensitively. It is the same man who after a few days of fast against 'corruption' in 2011, got unconscious and had to be admitted to the Swami Rama Hospital in Rishikesh. His chelas did not take him to the Patanjali hospital for treatment.
A couple of days back, Patanjali's head of dairy business Sunil Bansal passed away from Covid-19 complications. He was being treated in a modern hospital. It is another matter that Patanjali's ayurvedic hospital is of no use for their own leaders who speak against modern medicines.
Ram Kishan Yadav apologised, and yet the Health Minister of India behaved like a troll after former Prime Minister Dr Man Mohan Singh wrote a polite letter to Modi on the current situation. He should be prosecuted for his insensitive remarks as well as putting lives of people in danger through his diversionary tactics and irresponsible behaviour.
Patanjali and Ram Kishan Yadav have turned into biggest propagandists of Hindutva, hence the government will not take any action against him. He will continue to lead, speak whatever he wishes and enjoy full patronage. The legitimacy granted to Ram Kishan Yadav is a threat to our rationality and critical inquiry. His utterings can create an atmosphere of mistrust against the fight against Covid-19 for which modern medical system is the only answer and need for protection.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) sent a notice to Ram Kishan Yadav as well as to the Government of India but it seems that powerful ministers were reigned he forced to 'withdraw' his statement. I is time to think whether any criminal can get away with suchan act.
While a case had been filed against him, will IMA allow such farcical 'withdrawal'? Let us hope the medical fraternity will speak up against such foolish and dangerous statement by religious thugs who have blessings of those in power. If such people are not stopped from making these kind of dangerous statements, they may put lives of people in serious trouble. In the fight against Covid-19, we will need to educate our people and develop scientific thinking and spirit of inquiry.
---
*Human rights defender

Comments

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Gujarat Bitcoin scam worth Rs 5,000 crore "linked" with BJP leaders: Need for Supreme Court monitored probe

By Shaktisinh Gohil* BJP hit a jackpot in the form of demonetisation, which it used as an alibi to convert black money into white in Gujarat. Even as party scrambles for answers of how the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB), whose director is BJP president Amit Shah, received old currency worth Rs 745.58 crore in just five days, and how Rs 3118.51 crore was deposited in 11 district cooperative banks linked with Gujarat BJP leaders, a new mega Bitcoin scam, worth more than Rs 5,000 crore has been unraveled.

Warning bells for India: Tribal exploitation by powerful corporate interests may turn into international issue

By Ashok Shrimali* Warning bells are ringing for India. Even as news drops in from Odisha that Adivasi villages, one after another, are rejecting the top UK-based MNC Vedanta's plea for mining, a recent move by two senior scholars Felix Padel and Samarendra Das suggests the way tribals are being exploited in India by powerful international and national business interests may become an international issue. In fact, one has only to count days when things may be taken up at the United Nations level, with India being pushed to the corner. Padel, it may be recalled, is a major British authority on indigenous peoples across the world, with several scholarly books to his credit.

Counterview

Search This Blog