Are big anti-yogic lobbies behind disproportionate attack on Baba Ramdev?

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev is known to periodically throw explosive ingredients into his otherwise benign herbal world. He had been accused of fanning India’s obsession with the male child, or claiming to cure homosexuality. His latest rant against allopathy at a private yoga function has made those who detest him go ballistic once again. For his phenomenal contribution in popularising a yogic and Ayurvedic lifestyle among ordinary Indians, the man sure knows how to squander some of it by his occasional bouts of coarse talk. But it is interesting to note where the most vicious attacks on him are coming from this time around. Who are the people attacking him? What is their background? Where are they trying to hit? Do they have an agenda beyond what is visible? And finally, are the attacks disproportionate to his utterances? Consider this statement by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Dwarka. It has strongly condemned “Ram Kishan Yadav aka self-proclaimed Baba Ramdev, who has used derogatory words against allopathic science and medical doctors. He has belittled the sacrifice of more than 1,200 doctors who have laid down their lives”. Something sounds familiar? This is the same way the Congress ecosystem attacks Yogi Adityanath: by using his pre-brahmacharya name, Ajay Bisht. It is not logical; it is ideological. The same people won’t like it a bit if one refers to Mother Teresa as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu. Forget so-called ‘saints’, many believe the Congress threw a fit and went full-throttle against journalist Arnab Goswami in Maharashtra because he referred to its party president Sonia Gandhi by her maiden name, Antonia Maino. Let us understand which organisation is spearheading this attack against Ramdev and who heads it now. The organisation is IMA, the best-known guild of doctors in the country. It is currently headed by Dr Johnrose Austin Jayalal. In a recent interview to C_hristianity Today,_ the deeply problematic parts of which were quietly edited out after a massive uproar, Dr Jayalal admitted to using secular spaces like hospitals to proselytise. “My primary concern when I work as a Christian doctor is to ensure that I have time to talk about the mental well-being and spiritual healing of the person. We need more Christian doctors to work more in secular institutions, mission institutions, and medical colleges,” he said. “I am working as a professor of surgery in a medical college, so it is also a good opportunity for me to carry on the principles of Christian healing there. I also have the privilege of mentoring graduates and the interns.” His bizarre defence afterwards was that he was quoted “out of context”. It is bewildering how that is possible in a published interview. Dr Jayalal has also been at the forefront of protests against the Narendra Modi government’s decision to integrate Indian medical systems like Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, homoeopathy, yoga and naturopathy with western allopathic healing. This angers Dr Jayalal. For him, only allopathy blended with Christian conversion talk should be administered. He is blunt about proclaiming that Indian healing systems are inferior. “The most common system is modern medicine based on scientific evidence. The government of India, because of their cultural value and traditional belief in Hindutva, believes in a system called Ayurveda,” he said in the interview. “They want to make it one nation, one system of medicine. Next, they will want to make it one religion. This is also based on the Sanskrit language, which is always traditionally based on the Hindu principles. This is an indirect way for the government to introduce the language of Sanskrit and language of Hindutva into the minds of the people.” It is unsurprising that the below-the-belt attack on Baba Ramdev is coming from the organisation he heads and uses as cover to try and convert people, by his own admission. There are also powerful pharma lobbies whose interests are hurt by Ramdev’s rant. It is not new of such lobbies to use influential medical associations. Ramdev’s aide Acharya Balkrishna has refuted the charges in a tweet and a statement. He said Baba Ramdev “believes that allopathy is a progressive science; and a combination of allopathy, Ayurveda and yoga will be beneficial to everyone in such difficult times”. While the clarification is timely to assuage those offended, the disproportionate outrage by certain sections calling for Ramdev’s arrest is laughable. Many allopathy evangelists denigrate traditional medicine daily, calling names, undermining their effectiveness and faith invested by millions. Nobody calls for their arrest. India, last we checked, advocates freedom of speech. Even if Baba Ramdev has criticised allopathy harshly, irrationally and distastefully, it is his right to do so. Deal with it.