Indian yoga expert Swami Ramdev faces communist heat.

[Guest guest]

Swami had been of late hobnobbing with "powerful elements" and appealed that the

"unholy nexus" be broken. She was perhaps refering to the Swami's growing clout

with ex-Prime Minister Sri Atal Behari Vajpayee, Rajasthan Chief Minister Smt

Vasundhara Raje Scindia, firebrand leader Susree Uma Bharati, Uttaranchal CM

Sri N D Tewari, Indian Cine Superstar Sri Amitabh Bachhan, besides media

barons, beaurocrats, mainstream doctors and senior journalists. Perhaps she

also meant the Indian public as crores of suffering people all over the country

wake up to the 3:00 AM TV programme of the Swami. Swami Ramdev, contrary to

her expectations, didn't exactly go into hiding. He promptly called a press

conference and with two eminent MD's flanking him proceeded to clear the air

with his breath..sorry.. damage control exercises. Replying to media questions

he said that Ms Karat should have come to him to collect the sample from his

manufacturing facility. He also revealed that Ms Karat had first mentioned his

pharmacy as Divya Pharmacy, Haryana which made the Health Ministry reject her

claim as no such pharmacy existed there. It was later resubmitted as Divya Yog

Pharmacy, Hardwar. He doubted the genuineness of the sample sent for

examination. The Swami challenged any organisation to come and inspect his

pharmacy at any time to verify the allegations made. Regarding labelling he

said he followed the practice as followed by the major ayurvedic drug

pharmacies in India. He also procured a certificate from the Health Department

of Uttaranchal which had investigated a previous similiar allegation and found

it false. The two MD's present, one from the Uttaranchal government and the

other, the personal physician of Sri Amitabh Bachhan, agreed to what the Swami

had to say. The Swami did not stop at that. He readily offered interviews to

almost all

national TV news channels and made further interesting revelations. He said that

his tirade against junk food and soft drinks have resulted in sharp falls in

their sales hurting the profit figures of MNC's. Leading toothpaste brands and

cosmetic manufacturers have been forced to change their product patterns. He

alleged he had proof that two major cola MNC's and a certain drug major had

held a closed door meeting with Ms Karat. He said just as the recent MP's,

exposed by a sting operation for accepting bribes to raise questions in

Parliament, had been probed, a similiar probe should be intiated to know the

real reason behind Ms Karat's allegations. Regarding animal matter the Swami

said the only animal matter he used were cow produces that have been used in

ayurveda for centuries. He said conch shells too were used in some remedies. He

said the names of the medicines indicated the animal contents and there was no

effort to hide

anything. He expressed surprise that someone should accuse him of using human

skulls and animal bones. He invited Ms Karat to attend her yoga and breathing

sessions so that she would see reason and turn out to be a better politician.

He said he would soon send an official invitation to her. The Swami has

literally invited trouble by continually exposing the shenanigans of MNC's and

drug majors. He should have kept his own interests in view and worked silently.

He had himself voiced apprehension many a times citing threats from powerful

lobbies. He expressed dissatisfaction that despite offering relief to millions

of people and curing cases declared incurable by mainstream doctors he

continues to be cold shouldered. Interviews of people helped by his breathing

techniques and remedies revealed that patients who had given up on life were

now feeling young again. There were long lines at clinics manned by doctors

trained by him. Famous ayurveds interviwed by the TV channels also strongly

came out in support of the Swami. They said it was obvious that the popularity

of various alternative therapies and ayurveda had unnerved certain factions.

However these sciences would continue to grow they averred. They said the

Swami's clinic had ISO certification and followed good manufacturing practices.

Ms Karat said she was shocked how vegetarian followers of the Swami were

being fooled. She said the Swami was playing with their emotions. It was very

strange that a "secular" politician of Ms Karat's stature would suddenly

champion the cause of Hindu vegetarians. Maybe she was peeved with the way the

Swami had treated 50 odd ex employees of his pharmacy. The Swami had also not

given any employment letters to his workers and kept them as "volunteers" to

avoid labour trouble. These employees had approached Ms Karat who was fighting

for their cause. We should call for an unbiased investigation into the whole

episode where both claims and counter claims should be investigated. The

labelling of ayurvedic products should be examined and ensured. The contents of

ayurvedic medicines should also be examined and certified. The pharmacies should

be brought under the ambit of good manufacturing practices. These steps should

be taken immediately so that ayurveda does not get a bad name and also to

ensure that such accusations do not come up in the future. It is sad that

whereas ayurveda has spread to all parts of the globe it continues to be

attacked and ignored and thus languishes in the country of its origin. It

must be mentioned that such allegations have also been made against homeopathic

remedies stating that they contained steroids. Later it transpired that the milk

of magnesium used as a carrier of homeopathic remedies gave results similiar to

steroids under a

particular flame test. The persons who made the allegations were well aware f

the fact. This is a face of "science" many have woken up to today. There is an

urgent need to educate people about alternative therapies just as children are

taught about the mainstream medical theories right from their primary school

days. Regards, Jagannath. “New opinions often appear first as jokes and

fancies, then as blasphemies and treason, then as questions open to discussion,

and finally as established truths.” – George Bernard Shaw.

Photos Ring in the New Year with Photo Calendars. Add photos, events, holidays, whatever.