| Swami Ramdev | |
|---|---|
Swami Ramdev(स्वामी रामदेव) |
|
| Born | 1971 (age 40–41) Village: Ali Saiyad Pur (Alipur), Distt: Mahendragarh, Hariyana, India |
| Birth name | Ram Krishna |
| Titles/honours | Honorary Doctrate by K.I.I.T. Bhuvaneshwar & Amity University Noida Speech in UN HQ on Poverty Eradication 15 October 2006 |
| Guru | Acharya Pradumn |
| Philosophy | Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam |
Swami Ramdev (Hindi: स्वामी रामदेव), born as Ram Krishna on 11 Jan 1971,[1] is popularly known as Baba Ramdev. He has gained popularity through ventures in yoga, ayurvedic medicine and agriculture, as well as his advocacy on Indian political issues.[2]
Swami Ramdev was born as Ram Krishna to Gulab Devi and Ram Nivas in the Alipur village of Mahendragarh district in Haryana state of India.
While living in Kalva Gurukul of Jind district in Haryana, he offered free yoga training to villagers for some time. Then he moved to Haridwar, Uttarakhand and spent several years studying ancient Indian scriptures at Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya. This included a rare book of Aurobindo Ghosh, Yogik Sadhan, translated from Bangla into Hindi by Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil. After reading this small booklet he went to the caves of Himalaya and practised intense self-discipline and meditation.
He shot into prominence when he started the Divya Yog Mandir Trust with the company of Acharya Balkrishna at Kankhal Haridwar. In 2003, Aastha TV began featuring him in its morning yoga slot. Within a few years, he had gathered a huge following.[3] The New York Times called him "an Indian, who built Yoga Empire, a product and symbol of the New India, a yogic fusion of Richard Simmons, Dr. Oz and Oprah Winfrey, irrepressible and bursting with Vedic wisdom."[4]
A large number of people and many celebrities in India and abroad have attended his yoga camps[5]. He has taught yoga to many actors including Amitabh Bachchan and Shilpa Shetty.[6] He has also taught yoga in the British Parliament[7], at the MD Anderson Cancer Center affiliated to the University of Texas[8][9] and at the seminary of Muslim clerics at Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, becoming the first ever non-muslim to publicly address the deobandi Muslim clerics.[10].
Apart from making Yoga a household word in India, he has also taught Yoga in Britain, USA and Japan among other countries. Soon after getting popular outside India, he was invited by Kofi Annan in 2006 to deliver a lecture on poverty alleviation in a United Nations conference.[11][12]
The flagship project of Baba Ramdev is Patanjali Yogpeeth. Since its inauguration in 2006, it has been one of the largest centers for research on Yog and Ayurved in India. The vision of the research institution as mentioned on the Patanjali Yogpeeth website is "To evaluate the physiological and clinical effects of Yog and Pranayam as taught by Swami Ramdevji and the Ayurvedic medicines formulated by Acharya Balakrishanji".[13] Apart from running free yoga classes and providing free ayurvedic consultancy in the premises of the yogpeeth, the Patanjali Yogpeeth website claims to run 20,000 free yoga classes and 2000 chikitsalayas all over the country.[14] The facilities at the Yogpeeth comprise a 300-bed multi specialty hospital, a yoga research center[15], a university[16], an ayurvedic pharmacy[17] and a food park[18].
Patanjali YogPeeth has acquired a Scottish Island for about £2 million which was donated by Mr.Sam and Mrs. Sunita Poddar, originally from India and living in Scotland for 25 years, have been running the UK branch of the Patanjali Yoga Peeth Trust.[19] The Little Cumbrae Island, off the fishing town of Largs in Scotland, will also serve as the Patanjali Yog Peeth's base overseas, where yoga will be taught. This project will be run by Patanjali Yogpeeth (UK) Trust.[20] They have plans to set up a wellness retreat there.
Swami Ramdev, apart from being a social and political activist, has also authored several books, most prominent among them being
The books explain in detail about the basics of Ashtanga Yoga and Acupressure. The third book describes, among other things, the use of several medicinal herbs in curing some diseases which modern medicine is unable to cure. Baba Ramdev claims to have proper documented proofs of all the claims he makes, along with those in these books.
Ramdev has clarified that he has no political ambitions and is not interested in starting a political party, but feels it's his obligatory duty to reform social and political ambiguities apart from popularising yoga and thus strengthen the country.[21][22]
He has raised a number of political, social and economic issues through his yoga camps (in Hindi Yog Shivir). Most of the issues raised by him demand a drastic change in the governance policies of India.
In many yog shivira (yoga camps), he has raised the issue of increased consumption of fast foods, packed foods and soft drinks by the people. According to him these products can cause diseases and so they must not be eaten. He has also claimed that commercially available aerated drinks are harmful to due to the presence of phosphoric acids, preservatives, unknown chemicals and emulsifiers. He claims that these drinks are very harmful to the entire body and especially the stomach lining if consumed. He has also made statements along the lines of "Cold Drinks means Toilet Cleaner" and has claimed that these cold drinks are more effective at cleaning toilets than commercially available toilet cleaners.[23] He urges people in his public meetings to pledge not to consume commercial aerated drinks, to protect individual health as well as to avoid Indian wealth being transferred to multinational companies. Instead he advices the public to consume hot water, milk or traditional Indian juices only so that India may become prosperous.
He has also claimed that the use of fertilizers and pesticides has led to an undue economic load on farmers and increased the profits of large business houses involved in the business. He also claims that these practices are harmful to the general public, since the farming produce is contaminated with inorganic fertilizers and pesticides.[24] Due to this practice, the farming land is also becoming barren. He also blames corrupt practices for the miserable conditions of the poor farmers and other backward class of the society. He says that although agriculture is the biggest area which can contribute enough to India's economy yet it's farmers are the most poverty stricken class of the country. He says if villages improve then there will be a completely different India[25]
Baba Ramdev raised the issue of black money publicly in Ramlila Maidan on 27 Feb 2011[26] Estimations indicate a total of Rs. 400 lakh crore, or nearly 9 trillion USD, of Indian black money outside the country. It is claimed but not proven that this is so much money that every Indian constituency could get up to 50 thousand crore for development. The money has been pulled outside the country via physical and technical means, with hawala, under/over invoicing being some common methods. Money laundering started on a large scale since 1990.
In April 2011 Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, confirmed that there are Indian names on Swiss bank accounts.[27] Switzerland is not the only tax havens where Indian black money is stashed. Other tax havens include Dubai, Liechtenstein, USA, UK, and others.[26] Switzerland has officially rejected any "fishing expeditions" by the Indian government but are willing to be more cooperative in investigations where specific evidence is provided. An approach had been made by Indian government but was refused on the basis that it was a fishing expedition without any evidence. Baba Ramdev has said that most of the money belongs to the ministers, government officials and bureaucrats.[26] Baba Ramdev ignores the fact that many indians live permanently in Switzerland and many Indians conduct legitimate business there including some of India's largest corporations.
Apart from this, there is an estimated Rs. 100–150 lakh crore of black money in India's internal economy. India's total GDP is in the range of 60 lakh crore and at least twice of this amount is circulating in black, which is roughly between 100 and 150 lakh crore.[26] Ramdev has suggested many measures to curb the amount of black money circulating inside the internal economy. Baba Ramdev pointed out that total currency note circulation in India is 10 lakh crore. If the GDP is 60 lakh crore, then currency note circulation should be 1/50 of that amount, which is only 2 lakh crore. A basic economy concept states that a currency note can travel 50 to 100 transaction points over a year. Hence if RBI has circulated 10 lakh crore of currency then the total Indian economy should be at least 50 × 10 lakh crore = 500 lakh crore. This clearly indicates that there is huge amount of black money circulating inside the internal economy and an equally high amount of unaccounted wealth is being siphoned out of the country every year by corrupt ministers and bureaucrats.
Swami Ramdev has been associated with the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement and was involved in the Jan Lokpal agitation[28]
In February 2011, he gave the following steps for eradication of black money:[29]
Many countries like USA, Germany and other smaller African countries have attempted to adopt certain steps to recover their black money yet at the same time they have retained their own havens, for example, the USA has Delaware, the UK has the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, France has Monaco. However in India the government calls Ramdev's idea as impractical as many of Indias largest corporations trade in Switzerland and much needed investment into India from overseas funds is routed through Mauritius. The practicality of such steps has been called into question.[21]
He has raised the issue of Indian money stashed away illegally in Swiss banks, which is estimated to be anywhere between 1 and 1.5 trillion USD. He says that the government must take immediate action and bring back the money as it belongs to the people of India. Not only this, he openly charges that this black money has been taken out of the country illegally and also very strongly demands a capital punishment to all those Indians or non-resident Indians, who acquire, handle and stash black money. However, any properties and investments bought by Baba Ramdev abroad are explained away as gifts from wealthy donors. Baba Ramdev has not made public his own payments to the Indian (and overseas) Tax authorities for the profits from his businesses or made public any details of any anti-laundering steps taken questioning the very source of his own black money.
He suggests that Mauritius route is a tax haven for black money operators in India and this route should be cut effectively by the Indian government but ignores the fact that all UK and US funds use Mauritius to invest in the Indian stock-market and in India. He had also demanded (as early as September 2009) the removal of currency of denominations of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000, saying that this would curb corruption, black money and terrorism.[30][31]
On 27 February 2011 Baba Ramdev held a large rally of over 1 lakh people at the Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi to protest against corruption. Those present at the rally included Baba Ramdev, Acharya Balkrishna, Ram Jethmalani, Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Swami Agnivesh and many others.[32] All members spoke and explained how corruption was rampant in the country and how the government itself was indulging in it. The most highlighted topic was Indian black money lying in tax havens of Switzerland. A striking feature of this rally was that all the major media houses boycotted it.
Baba Ramdev launched the Bhrashtachar Mitao Satyagrah which was held at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi on 4 June 2011. Key demands were[33]:
Baba Ramdev declared to go on an Anshan (indefinite fast) on June 4, 2011 at Ramlila Ground Delhi[34] to pressure the Central Government to root out corruption from India and bring back the black money stashed away in various financial institutions abroad. After this declaration the government was said to have set up a panel to suggest steps to curb black money and its transfer abroad, in an apparent bid to placate Ramdev.[35]
When Ramdev arrived at Delhi airport on June 1, four senior ministers of the UPA government met him on the airport and tried to persuade him by telling of the government's initiative on corruption.[36] On 4 June morning 65,000 followers of the yoga teacher had gathered at Ramlila Ground[37] By noon queues extending up to 3 km from the entry point of Ramlila Grounds and were seen chanting 'Vande Mataram'. In the evening a press conference was organised by Kapil Sibbal made public a letter from Ramdev's camp to call off their agitation. Ramdev took it as a betrayal of the Government and hardened the position by declaring not to take back his Satyagrah until a proper government ordinance is announced in place of forming a committee.
Satyagrah was going on even in the night of 4 June 2011. Sources informed Baba Ramdev that a huge police force can try to clear Ramlila Ground and if it is not done they can also kill him in a fake encounter or set fire in the tents.[38] At midnight, a huge team of 10,000 officers of the Delhi Police and RAF raided the ground when most of the Satyagrahis were sleeping on the and Ramdev was also sleeping on the dias along with his core group.[39] A large police force lobbed tear gas shells and lathicharged to evict the crowd from 1a.m. to 4 a.m. The tent was set on fire at many places. Cold water was thrown over power generators to create complete darkness to prevent any video recording of the whole attack. However most media persons recorded what was going on.
Police had arranged buses to drop supporters at railway stations and bus stands in advance; had ammunition ready and all the policemen were in battle-gear wearing vests and helmets and kept some ambulances on standby. Ramdev was arrested while attempting to disguise himself in women's clothing.[40]
Delhi Police forcefully detained Ramdev at Safdargunj Airport in complete isolation for a few hours and then deported him to his Ashram in Haridwar via helicopter.[41] Police fired tear gas, lathcharged people who were reportedly peacefully fasting. 53 persons were injured and treated at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital, AIIMS trauma center, and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.[42][43][44] Government stopped media person or anybody to enter the hospital to check the injured. Protesters huddled near the Metro station, bus depots and railway stations. Many walked down to Gurdwara Bangla Sahib and other nearby Ashrams.[45] According to New Delhi railway station authorities, supporters continued to leave in batches through the course of the day. While several supporters spent the day in a park near Ramlila Maidan, others took shelter in Arya Samaj at Paharganj.[46]
Baba Ramdev was taken by police out side Delhi and was banned from entering Delhi for 15 days. After being banned from entering Delhi for the next 15 days, Union Home Secretary G. K. Plillai said the Baba was on his way to his Ashram at Haridwar under police custody.[47] On reaching Haridwar, Swami Ramdev declared in a press conference that his fast unto death will continue.
About 5,000 supporters were still missing according to Baba Ramdev.[48] Dr. Jaideep Arya, a key advisor of Ramdev’s team, said that about 19 girls students from the Chotipur Gurukul, who were seated near the dais, are estimated to be still missing.[49] Suman, women’s representative of the Trust, said many of these girls were roughed up when the police tried to reach Swamiji and were crying since police officials were pulling their hair, dragging them badly and their clothes were torn. Police, however, said no one was missing.[49] A senior police officer reported that they were forced to retaliate after Baba Ramdev's supporters started throwing stones and flower pots at them.[50] Police also released CCTV footage to prove that no woman was beaten by them.[51] TV channels were telecasting the footage of the scene in Ramlia Ground. Rajbala, who suffered a crippling spinal injury and was undergoing treatment at G. B. Pant Hospital died following cardiac arrest. The hospital authorities refused to give a death summary and other relevant papers, and even asked to file an RTI application. Baba Ramdev, in a statement, said “Her sacrifice is an irreparable loss to the whole organisation…..and her death will not go in vain. We will continue to fight for a corruption-free India[52].”
Ramdev accused the government of cheating him, and alleged that there was a conspiracy to kill him and that he was threatened during a meeting with senior ministers.[53] All political parties other than the Congress Party condemned the police action, called it undemocratic and naked fascism,[54] deplorable and shortsighted.[55][56] It was even compared it with the Emergency[54] and the Jalianwala.[54] Apart from politicians, he was also supported by civil societies as well. A senior poet laureate Dr Madan Lal Verma 'Krant' wrote an article on his blog KRANT and said that the action of the government was more shameful than the Jalianwala of British period. He argued that the British Government had ordered firing in the day whereas Indian Government took such a brutal action after midnight when all of the protesting persons were sleeping.[57] Activist Anna Hazare termed the crackdown of the agitation a strangulation of democracy. He said: "There was no firing otherwise the eviction was similar to Jallianwala Bagh massacre".[58] He boycotted his lokpal panel meeting with the government on 6 June and decided to go on a one day fast on 8 June. His allies RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal, former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan, and Swami Agnivesh also criticised the police action to evict the hunger strikers forcefully[59] Protests were held in many different parts of the country.[60] Protest were held in Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jammu and Lucknow as well as among other several cities of India.[61]
Baba Ramdev ended his fast on the ninth day by drinking a glass of juice at Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun, where he was recuperating from the seventh day of his fast. After repeated request from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and various other activisst he ended his fast.[62] Political reactions came in from all major parties expressing their happiness about ending the fast. BJP Spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said they have a "sense of satisfaction" that the fast has ended. Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy said that the fast was "successful" and termed the government as "monstrous". While the ruling party Congress spokesperson Janardan Dwivedi gave a reaction by saying it as "good".[63]
Hours after 4 June, the Congress-led UPA government started a massive campaign against Baba Ramdev, Acharya Balkrishna and Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust. Multiple allegations were raised against Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna.
Some of them being:
The Indian National Congress lead United Progressive Alliance launched a booklet to criticise and expose Ramdev during its election campaign in Uttar Pradesh for the 2012 elections.[64][65]
It is said that there are a maze of companies that are run and maintained by Ramdev´s key men. Over 200 businesses from broadcasting companies including Aastha TV to food parks are run by his trusted lieutenants Acharya Balkrishna and Mukta Anand. Baba is also facing charges of land grab as it was reported that Ramdev´s Patanjali Yog Peeth had grabbed government land. Acharya Balkrishna was cleared of fake passport charges.[66]
As per reports, Uttarakhand Intelligence Bureau has confirmed that Balkrishna may have violated the Arms Act. The Prime Minister´s office has ordered a probe in the case. Ramdev had earlier defended Balkrishna stating that he is not holding any weapons illegally.
ndia Today, the leading magazine in India wrote, “The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax Department (I-T) have started scanning the turnovers of the companies belonging to the yoga guru's two trusts.”
With more than 30 companies under the patronage of Baba Ramdev with turnover in millions, the CBI and the I-T were reported probing the companies, properties and accounts handled by Baba aid Acharya Balakrishna, who runs companies dealing into products ranging from medicines, food, cosmetics and energy to construction, real estate, transport and packaging.
Their operations are dove-tailed with Ramdev's flagship companies -- Patanjali Yogpeeth and Divya Yog Mandir trusts -- in Haridwar.
The turnover, profits and other details of these firms are now being looked into, according to India Today.
Citing the data available with the corporate affairs ministry and accessed the document identification numbers (DINs) of the 34 firms that have been under scrutiny, India Today report said Balakrishna is a director of each of the 34 companies.
The report cited the following[67][68] as some of Ramdev's firms now under scanner in India:
Ramdev and his non-profit firms are alleged to involve in activities prohibited for non-profit tax-exempt organisations in USA.[69]
Baba Ramdev, being a Hindu is demonised in India by congress as being a part of long-standing organisations such as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) by many politicians. Lalu Yadav said in a press conference- "Sadhvi Ritambhara was the first one to share the stage (with Ramdev at ramlila protest). She was the one who was responsible for the Babri Masjid demolition".[70] Digvijay Singh, Congress general secretary alleged that all the five-star arrangements at Ramlila ground protests were done by right activist group RSS and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).[71] Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said-"Some people with vested interest are hijacking and remote controlling the protest by RSS and BJP". He also alleged that nation wide protest by Ramdev is being financed by RSS. Baba Randev has responded to these allegations by saying that, every patriot and well-wisher of the nation is supporting him, if RSS is one of them, so be it.
Initially RSS leader Ram Madhav made distance on this issue.[72] But later on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said- "The RSS was not behind the stir launched by Ramdev seeking repatriation of the black money stashed illegally in foreign banks but have extended all support to it (agitation)." He added- "RSS cannot remain a mute spectator to the social revolution taking place against corruption and black money. Therefore, it has asked its cadres to join the agitation"[73]
Baba Ramdev is allegedly called as business tycoon, has built a global yog empire that stretches from India to a remote island in Scotland, with declared revenues since 1995 of 11 billion rupees ($220 million). "I've become so powerful, I can uproot a government. I don't have financial or legal power, but in a democracy I have the power of the people," he declared in an interview with Indian magazine Tehelka last year.[74][75] Though there were discussions in public domain that various media and political parties are questioning his credibility and raising allegations, making Ramdev a fun object, calling him a thug and in possession of Black Money, instead of debating about the issues raised by him.[76] To clear the allegations that his trust has accumulated Black Money, he made available the audited balance sheets of all his trusts on the website of Patanjali YogPeeth.[77]
In March 2005, 113 employees of Divya Yoga Mandir Trust, Haridwar started an agitation for minimum wages and employees's rights such as coverage under the Provident Fund and Employees' State Insurance schemes. After a tripartite meeting, an agreement was reached between the workers, management and the district administration. However, some agitating workers were dismissed by the Trustees after being alleged to be responsible for sabotage. Their case was taken up by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist). They are still to be reinstated.[78][79]
Brinda Karat, a senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was involved with the protesters and was told by disgruntled workers that animal parts were used in the manufacture of some medicines. In January 2006, she accused the Divya Pharmacy, owned by Divya Yog Mandir Trust for using human and animal bones in their medicines. Samples of the medicines Kulya Bhasm (Mixture) and Yauvanamrit Vati purchased from Brahmakalp Chikitsalaya- the Trust's Hospital at Haridwar were allegedly tested at government labs and the presence of animal materials in the sample was confirmed.[78] However, the source of the samples was disputed, as these had been supplied by Karat to the labs and not procured by government officials. Karat produced what were claimed to be the prescription and cash receipt obtained from the medicine counter for the samples provided.[78][79][80]
Her controversial remarks drew strong condemnation from several politicians in North India, like Sharad Pawar, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Narayan Dutt Tiwari.[81] Subsequently she received a legal notice on the behalf of a BJP leader in Faridabad.[82]
A few months later in 2006, four samples were sent to the government recognized Shriram Institute of Industrial Research in Delhi. Negating the report from this institute the Union Health Ministry said to have found animal DNA in the samples, although most of the newspapers carried reports to the contrary.[83]
In December 2006, Swami Ramdev claimed to improve the condition of patients suffering with AIDS through yoga and ayurvedic drugs sold by his Divya Yoga Mandir Trust. He also went on to suggest that sex education should be replaced by yoga education, as his way to AIDS awareness and prevention.[84] "Sex education in schools need [sic] to be replaced by yoga education," Ramdev told reporters at the state health minister's residence. As a consequence of these public statements he was sent a cease and desist order by the Indian Union Health Ministry to avoid making such claims in the future, and the civil society threatened legal action.[85] In response, Ramdev paraphrased his statement and said the claims were not directly his, but those of patients who practiced yoga.[86]
Other press reports quoted him as claiming to have a cure for cancer of the breast, liver, prostate, uterus, pituitary gland, and brain, as well as leukemia, by practicing breathing exercises. Swami Ramdev has claimed to have documented proof of his successes.[87]
In July 2009, when Delhi High Court gave a verdict under decriminalizing homosexuality in Delhi, the swami called a press conference and said, "This verdict of the court will encourage criminality and sick mentality. This kind of thing is shameful and insulting to all of us. We are blindly following the West in everything. This is breaking the family system in India. Homosexuality is not natural and can be treated. If the government brings this law, I will take this matter to the streets of Delhi in protest."[88]