A Wonder Man Called Baba Ramdev

A Wonder Man Called Baba Ramdev, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Swami Ramdev (Hindi: स्वामी रामदेव), born as Ram Krishna on 11 January 1971,[1] is popularly known as Baba Ramdev. He has gained wealth and notoriety through ventures in yoga, alternative medicine and agriculture, as well as his advocacy on Indian political issues.[2]


He was born as Ram Krishn to Gulab Devi and Ram Nivas in the village Saiyad AliPur (Alipur) of Mahendragarh district in Haryana state of India. According to the affidavit filed by him to the Passport Office[1] his date of birth is 11 January 1971. He was inspired by the portraits of Ram Prasad Bismil and Subhas Chandra Bose that were hung in his room.[3] According to his statements in an open Yog Shivir at Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh when he grew up and read the autobiography of Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil, his mind was totally cleansed. After completing his middle education of eighth standard from Shahbajpur Haryana, he joined Aarsh (Arya) Gurukul, Khanpur and studied Sanskrit and Yoga under the guidance of Acharya Praduman.

After he received teachings from Acharya Baldevji, he renounced worldly life, entering into Sanyas and changed his name from Ram Krishn to Ramdev.[4] (Note: The Hindi word swami means master of conscience).

In Kalva Gurukul of Jind district in Haryana India he offered free training of Yog to villagers for some time. Then he moved to Haridwar, Uttar Pradesh 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.[5] After reading this small booklet he went to the caves of Himalaya and practiced intense self-discipline and meditation. According to Sanjay Upadhyaya's book "Ramdev - Myth and Reality", Ramdev fell seriously ill in his childhood and through his recovery discovered his techniques of yoga and meditation.


He shot into prominence when he started the Divya Yog Mandir Trust with the company of Acharya Bal Krishna. In 2003, Aastha TV began featuring him in its morning yoga slot. Within a few years, he had gathered a huge following.[6] He is known for his efforts of popularizing yoga. 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".[7] His yog-camps are attended by a large number of people in India and abroad.



His flagship project is Patanjali Yog Peeth (a registered Trust which was inaugurated on August 6, 2006 by Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, then Vice President of India). The primary aim of this institution is to build India the world's largest centre for Ayurved and Yoga with the facilities of treatment, research and training.[8][9]

At present the trust offers treatment to those who cannot afford to pay and for the rest, it is provided at a reasonable cost. Various institutions and medical organizations are also run by the Patanjali Yoga Peeth Trust to study and improve the effectiveness of yoga against diseases like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, etc. Recently the second phase of Patanjali Yoga Peeth has also started its working.


Patanjali Ayurved College, Patanjali Chikitsalaya, Yog Gram, Go-Shala, Patanjali Herbal Botanical Garden, Organic Agriculture Farm, Patanjali Food And Herbal Park Ltd are some of its affiliated institutions which are run under the guidance of Swami Ramdev and his close associate Acharya Bal Krishn. Some useful books are also published by its sister concern Divy Prakashan.

Yog Sandesh is the authorised journal Patanjali Yoga Peeth which is being published in 11 languages viz. Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, Nepali, Kannada and Telugu. Monthly readership of this multi-lingual journal is more than one million.[10]

Patanjali Yog Peeth 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.[11] 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.[12] They have plans to set up a wellness retreat there.


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.[13][14]

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.
[edit] Bharat Swabhiman

For changing governance policies, he has initiated a movement named Bharat Swabhiman along with Rajiv Dixit.

The five goals[15] of Bharat Swabhiman campaign are:

100% voting
100% nationalist thought,
100% boycott of foreign companies and adoption of swadeshi,
100% unification of the people of the nation and
100% yoga-oriented nation.

As a part of campaign, Baba Ramdev has been organising yoga camps across India to create awareness amongst people against corruption and black money.

On agriculture and dietary practices

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.[16] 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.[17] 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[18]
[edit] Illegal mining
Further information: Illegal mining in India

According to Baba Ramdev, there is permission for only 200 mining leases but about one lakh illegal mines are operational in the country.[19] Baba Ramdev argues that illegal mining is the biggest source of black money and that corrupt people are eying the natural resources of the country, which are present in abundant amount. Natural resources include gold, copper, coal, iron, oil and other natural resources. Plunder of natural resources is the most devastating form of national crime, according to Ramdev, yet it is the least reported.

According to conservative estimates India has natural resources worth around 10,000 lakh crore.[citation needed] Das Hajar Lakh Crore is the exact phrase used by Baba Ramdev to quote the figure at his gatherings. Baba Ramdev says that the natural resources of the country must be protected otherwise corrupt people would sell every bit of it and stash the money in tax havens. Contrary to the popular belief of tax evasion being the source of black money, Baba Ramdev points out that the nation's wealth is being plundered from the natural resources and that has resulted into the huge stockpile of black money in various tax havens.

Protests against black money

Baba Ramdev was the first to raise the issue of black money publicly in 2008[citation needed], before the assembly elections of 2009. Estimations indicate a total of Rs. 400 lakh crore, or nearly 9 trillion USD, of Indian black money outside the country[citation needed]. This is so much money that every Indian constituency could get up to 50 thousand crore for development[citation needed]. The money has been pulled outside the country via physical and technical means, with hawala, under/over invoicing being some common methods[citation needed]. Money laundering started on a large scale since 1990[citation needed].

In April 2011 Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, confirmed that there are Indian names on Swiss bank accounts.[20] Switzerland is not the only tax havens where Indian black money is stashed. Other tax havens include Dubai, Liechtenstein, Italy, and others[citation needed]. Switzerland made an official statement that, if the Indian government approaches them, they are willing to declare the names of Indian account holders[citation needed]. However, no such approach has been made by Indian government. Baba Ramdev has said that most of the money belongs to the ministers, government officials and bureaucrats[citation needed].

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 economists[who?] suggest that at least twice of this amount is circulating in black, which is roughly between 100 and 150 lakh crore[citation needed]. 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[21]

In February 2011, he gave the following steps for eradication of black money:[22]

Declare all Indian wealth lying outside the country illegally as national wealth.
Agree to and accept the U.N. Convention against Corruption – pending since 2006.
Access, monitor and disrupt payment gateway servers enabling corrupt people to manage money in tax havens.
Scrutinizing accounts of people having credit/debit cards of foreign banks without any foreign work/relation.
Disabling operations of any bank from a tax haven country.
Withdrawal and demonetizing of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes – so as to avoid misuse of unaccounted money and quick arrest of the entire locally circulated black money, bribing, and fake note traffic.
Death penalty provision for the corrupt persons in Indian Penal Code.

Many countries like USA, Germany and other smaller African countries have adopted similar steps to get back their black money. However in India the government calls Ramdev's idea as impractical. The practicality of such steps has been called into question.[13]

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. 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. 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.[23][24]
[edit] Anticorruption rally on 27 February 2011 at Ramlila Maidan

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. 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.

Arvind Kejriwal mentioned that Anna Hazare would hold a fast in April 2011 to put pressure on the government to enact the JanLokPal Bill.

It is a noticeable fact that no major news channel covered this event[citation needed].
[edit] Bhrashtachar Mitao Satyagrah 4 June 2011 at Ramlila Maidan
[edit] Preface

Baba Ramdev launched the Bhrashtachar Mitao Satyagrah which was held at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi on 4 June 2011. Key demands were:[citation needed]

Declare all illegal wealth/black money lying in foreign countries, which belong to Indians as National Property.
Declaring money laundering as a National Crime and should be punishable.
Investigate and shut down the Mauritius route of foreign investment.
Sign and ratify the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, pending since 2006
Recall Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 notes to curb corruption, bribery and illegal flow of money in the internal economy of the country.
Enact a strong Lokpal bill.
Establish infrastructure to deliver medical and engineering education in Indian Languages.
Enact Public Service Delivery Guarantee Act to enable all citizens to avail government/public services easily and quickly
Enact the Kisan Vetan Ayog to establish standards for payment of wages to farmers and classify farming as skilled labour.

[edit] Protest at Delhi

Baba Ramdev declared to go on an Anshan (indefinite fast) on June 4, 2011 at Ramlila Ground Delhi[25] 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.[26]

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.[27] On 4 June morning 65,000 followers of the yoga teacher had gathered at Ramlila Ground[28] 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.[29] 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.[30] 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.[31]

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.[32] 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.[33][34][35] 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.[36] 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.[37]

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.[38] 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.[39] 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.[40] 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.[40] A senior police officer reported that they were forced to retaliate after Baba Ramdev's supporters started throwing stones and flower pots at them.[41] Police also released CCTV footage to prove that no woman was beaten by them.[42] TV channels were telecasting the footage of the scene in Ramlia Ground.
[edit] Aftermath of the Delhi protest and fast unto death

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.[43] All political parties other than the Congress Party condemned the police action, called it undemocratic and naked fascism,[44] deplorable and shortsighted.[45] [46] It was even compared it with the Emergency[44] and the Jalianwala.[44] 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 (hi.satyagrahi) were sleeping.[47] 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".[48] 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 MinisterShanti Bhushan, and Swami Agnivesh also criticised the police action to evict the hunger strikers forcefully[49] Protests were held in many different parts of the country.[50] Protest were held in Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jammu and Lucknow as well as among other several cities of India.[51]

Soon after this, a vacation bench of the Supreme Court of India comprising justice B. S. Chauhan and justice Swatantra Kumar issued notices to the Union Home Secretary, Chief Secretary of Delhi, Delhi Administration, and Delhi Police Commissioner asking them to respond within two weeks, after taking suo motu cognizance of forceful eviction of yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his followers from the Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi.[52] The National Human Rights Commission also issued notices on June 6, 2011 to the Government of India and Delhi State Government seeking reports within two weeks on the midnight crackdown on Baba Ramdev’s supporters at Ramlila ground.[53] After being evicted from Delhi, Baba Ramdev wanted to continue his fast from Noida but was denied permission by the Uttar Pradesh government. Many pepole like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also forced him to end his fast. Ultimately, he decided to continue his idefinite fast satyagraha at Haridwar only from 4 June 2011 onwards.[54][55][56] After repeated attempts to end his fast Baba Ramdev's health worsened and was taken to the Himalaya Institute of Medical Sciences on the seventh day of his fast.[57][58][59]
[edit] End of hunger strike

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 saints he ended his fast.[60] 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".[61]
[edit] Anti-Ramdev campaign by Congress

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:

Baba Ramdev is involved in tax evasion.
Acharya Balkrishna is a Nepali staying illegally in India.
Baba Ramdev exports products that are banned in USA.
Acharya Balkrishna has a fake Indian passport.
Donations received by Baba Ramdev consist of black money.

Congress party launched a booklet to criticise and expose Ramdev during its election campaign in Uttar Pradesh for the 2012 elections. [62] [63]

However as investigations were carried out by various agencies at both state and centre level, eventually nothing was found wrong with either Baba Ramdev or Acharya Balkrishna. Acharya Balkrishna was cleared of fake passport charges.[64] NEW DELHI, July 25: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of India has approached the External Affairs Ministry seeking revocation of the passport of Balkrishna, an aide for Yoga guru Ramdev, as the agency alleged that it was procured on the basis of fake documents.

Views on AIDS and sex education

In December 2006, Swami Ramdev claimed to cure diseases such as AIDS and cancer 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, as his way to AIDS awareness, prevention and a cure.[81] "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.[82] In response, Ramdev retracted his statement and said the claims were not directly his, but those of patients who practiced yoga.[83]
[edit] 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, and brain, as well as leukemia, by practicing 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 prostate and breast cancer and leukemia using Pranayam, or breathing exercises.[84] Swami Ramdev has claimed to have documented proof of his successes, but has failed to provide any to the media or the Health Ministry.
[edit] Views on homosexuality

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. Homosexuals are sick people, they should be sent to hospitals for treatment. If the government brings this law, I will take this matter to the streets of Delhi in protest."[85]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramdev