Controversies and criticisms faced by Baba Ramdev

Controversies and criticisms

Over the years Swami Ramdev has been involved in several controversies.

Minimum wage

In March 2005, about 113 employees of the Divya Yoga Mandir Trust started an agitation for minimum wages, coverage under the Provident Fund and Employees' State Insurance schemes. At a tripartite meeting, an agreement was reached between the workers, management and the district administration. However, some agitating workers were dismissed by the Trust after being charged for alleged sabotage. Their case was taken up by a trade union controlled by the political Communist Party of India (Marxist). They are yet to be reinstated..

Allegations of unlawful manufacturing practices

In January 2006, the Indian Member of Parliament Brinda Karat accused the Divya Yog Mandir Trust Pharmacy, owned by Ramdev, of using human and animal bones in their medicines. Samples of the medicines Kuliya Bhasm and Yauvanamrit Bati purchased from Brahmakalp Chikitsalay, the Trust's hospital at Haridwar, were tested at government labs which later confirmed the presence of animal materials in the sample. She exhibited the prescription and cash receipt obtained from the medicine counter in support of her claim.

Later, four samples sent to the government-recognized Shriram Institute of Industrial Research in Delhi. The report from this institution declared that the samples did not contain objectionable ingredients and were purely herbal. Swami Ramdev was subsequently cleared of the charges. Interestingly, subsequent to these allegations - sales of the Trust's ayurvedic medicines have soared.

Notably, Ayurvedic texts allow the uses of animal-based substances in the manufacture of some of the Ayurvedic medicines. However, according to Brinda Karat, the laws related to proper labeling of medicines had not been adhered to.

Comments on Mahatma Gandhi

In 2006, the following comment from Swami Ramdev drew the wrath of some Gandhians:

“	I am a follower of penance, sacrifice, non-violence and truth. But I am also a follower of revolutionaries. I live a simple life. I don't do what everyone else does. But I believe that the freedom of our country is because of the sacrifice of martyrs. If somebody says that the country achieved independence without arms, without bloodshed, I believe that is an insult to the country's martyrs.	”
—Swami Ramdev,

They suggested that the Swami should concentrate only on Yoga. Youth workers burnt posters of Ramdev and shouted slogans against him.

Claims of curing AIDS

In December 2006, press reports claimed that Ramdev had made claims of being able to use Yoga to cure AIDS. A website promoting his products states that the CD4 cell count in some AIDS patients has improved after practising Yoga.. This statement was translated by certain journalists as claiming a cure for AIDS. As a consequence of these press reports he was sent a cease and desist order by the Indian Union Health Ministry and threatened legal action from medical NGOs. Ramdev responded by saying that he had been misquoted. His position was that Yoga and Ayurveda together can alleviate the suffering from AIDS, not cure it.

Claims of curing cancer

Other press reports quoted him as claiming to have a cure for cancer of the breast, liver, prostate, uterus, pituitary gland, brain tumors and leukemia by practicing the seven breathing exercises.

In a residential camp held in Yog Gram, Haridwar during 19-25 June 2008, several cancer patients stepped forward to recount first-hand stories of their successful bouts with blood, prostrate and breast cancer using Pranayama or breathing exercises..

Swami Ramdev has claimed having documented proof of his successes.

Putravati medicine

In May 2007, the Haridwar district health department began a probe into the medicine labelled "Putravati", allegedly manufactured by Swami Ramdev's Haridwar-based Divya pharmacy. The medicine reportedly was supposed to help women to selectively give birth to sons. However, the investigation proved this to be a hoax

According to the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act of 1994 under the Indian Law, it is an offense to manufacture or publicize any medicine that discriminates against the girl child

KNOW YOGA AND FEEL IT"S BENIFITS

Swami Ramdev Maharaj

Pujya Shri Baba Ramdev Maharaj ji is a renouned Yoga and Ayurved guru. He is is well-versed in Sanskrit Grammar, Ayurveda and Vedic Philosophy. His practical approach to Yoga has won him millions of followers throughout India.

Birth

Swami Ramdev was born as Ramkishan Yadav in a very humble family of a farmer in Narnaul village at Alipur, in Mahendragarh district of Haryana, India. Two and half months after he was born half of his body was paralysed but he recovered. He escaped death about seven times.

Early Education

He studied in his Narnaul village school till 5th. He studied up to Class 8 in nearby village Shahjadpur and then joined a gurukul in Khanpur village to learn Sanskrit.

Sanyas

Thereafter, he joined a yogic monastery (gurukul) in Khanpur village to study Sanskrit and Yoga. Eventually, he renounced worldly life and entered into Sanyas (monastic living) - taking the name Swami Ramdev.

Yoga

From there he went to Jind district and joined the Kalva gurukul under Acharya Baldev ji Maharaj and later imparted free Yoga training to villagers across Haryana. It is said that he travelled the Himalayas for several years before he settled in Haridwar. He spent a considerable amount of time in the caves of Gangotri. He discovered several medicinal plants in the Himalayas which he uses in treating his patients, apart from reeking the benefits of cow’s urine and manure.

Divya Yoga Mandir

Swami Ramdev started relentless efforts to popularise Yoga in 1995 with the esteblishment of Divya Yoga Mandir Trust, along with Acharya Karamveer and Acharya Balkrishna. While Karamveer is well-versed in Yoga and the Vedas, Balkrishna is a physician with a degree in Ayurveda. Ramdev became the president of the trust, Karamveer the deputy president and Balkrishna the general secretary. The objective of the trust was to reach Yoga in every part of the country and cure as many patients as possible. With this he began activities in health and spiritual pursuits and has cured many incurable diseases since then.

Yog Science Camps

He has been conducting Yog science camps regularly all over the country, and sometimes abroad as well. These shivirs are attended by thousands of people. People practice yoga with Swami Ramdev ji in these shivirs and also get special treatment for their problems.

Popularity

Now thousands of people everyday attend his Yoga camps. And many are following him in Yoga through TV channels and Videos. Swamiji has given a new birth to Yoga by bringing it to public and benefiting people with it. He has helped Yoga become popular among common man. He has done so by curing many incurable diseases. He is responsible for a revolution in Yoga and health.

Patanjali Yog Peeth

Guru Ramdev has planned a Rs 100-crore dream project, Patanjali Yog Peeth, at Bahadrabad, about 20km from Haridwar. According to him, "It will catapult Yoga and Ayurveda to its zenith, and lead to mental, spiritual and physical development of people". To be completed in three years, it is an ambitious project with a Yoga university, a naturopathy department which can handle 1,000 patients at a time, a residential complex for patients, a hall for 5,000 people to practise Yoga and the world’s largest hospital ward to treat 5,000 patients a day.

Work and Teachings

Swami Ramdev has taught several aspects of traditional Indian scriptures such as Ashtadhyayee, Mahabhashya and Upanishads along with six systems of Indian Philosophy in various Gurukuls (traditional Indian systems of education).

He teaches that God resides in every human being and that the body is God's temple. He is a firm believer in the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the whole World is one family) and decries practices that discriminate on the basis of caste, creed or gender. His fundamental belief is that expressions of love, affection and compassion towards all living things are the true worship of the Creator.

He has helped establish Gurukuls in Kishangarh,Gharshera and Mahendragarh in India. He has also founded P Y P Trust, which has built several institutions. In addition to helping people learn about Yoga and spirituality, these institutions also provide a comprehensive facility that promotes the practice of Ayurveda -the traditional system of holistic medicine developed in India.

Honours

KITT University, a well-respected teaching and research institute for Science and Technology, awarded Swami Ramdev with an Honorary Doctorate degree in recognition of his efforts at popularising the Vedic science of Yoga. The degree was presented to him in January 2007 during a ceremony presided over by the respected scientist and Nobel laureate Richard Ernst.


Swamiji believes that "yog se yeh Aaryavrat desh punah Vishva guru ke garimamay pad par pratishthit hoga" ( India will again become world leader through Yoga ). He dreams of a "rog mukt Bharat Varsh aur Vishva" ( Disease free India and World ).