After the rebuke of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Baba Ramdev interacted with the media and stressed, “If our claims are false, impose a fine of Rs 1,000 crore on us or hang us. But first, identify those creating confusion.” On November 21, the Supreme Court warned him of a fine of Rs 100 crore and advised to stop misleading advertisements.
Addressing the situation, Baba Ramdev said, “Since yesterday many media outlets have publicised the news that the Supreme Court has reprimanded Patanjali, threatening heavy fines for false propaganda. However, we respect the Constitution of the country, but we do not spread false propaganda.” Some groups of doctors, opposing our cultural and eternal values, spread misleading information. Their false claims deny treatment for diseases like BP, Diabetes, Thyroid and Liver. We have evidence from research conducted on thousands of patients, showing weight loss. Lost 12 to 15 kilos of weight within a week.”
The Patanjali chief insisted on accountability and raised questions about what kind of penalty would be imposed if his claims were true. He advocated punishing those who spread lies. Baba Ramdev highlighted the dangerous five-year long campaign against Yoga, Ayurveda and Naturopathy and alleged that it negates the possibility of any cure within Ayurveda.
The rift between Patanjali and the Indian Medical Association has been going on since the COVID-19 period. The Medical Association had objected to several statements of Baba Ramdev and accused him of insulting allopathy. The ongoing debate between Ayurveda and Allopathy ended with the intervention of the Supreme Court, after which Baba Ramdev had to hold a press conference.
Notably, around 20 cases have been registered against Baba Ramdev at various places including Delhi, Patna, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana during and after the Covid-19 period. Since then this conflict has continued. This is the first example of such strong criticism against Baba Ramdev.
He alleges that a group of doctors oppose integrating traditional medicine into modern health care education out of fear of a potential threat to modern allopathy. However, Baba Ramdev stresses that unlike the symptomatic and traditional approach of allopathy, Ayurveda focuses on preventive and curative treatments.
