Ramdev

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Swami Ramdev

Swami Ramdev Place of birth Village: Ali Saiyad Pur (Alipur), Distt: Mahendragarh, Haryana, India Birth name Guru/teacher Ram Krishna Yadav Acharya Pradumn

Swami Ramdev (Hindi: ), born Ram Krishna Yadav, is a Hindu Yogi, and National Activist. He is popularly known as Baba Ramdev, and has gained popularity for his teachings of Yoga, Pranayama and political activism on a number of social and medical issues, especially recently with his movement against corruption in India.[1]

Contents
[hide]

1 Biography o 1.1 Early life

o 1.2 Contemporary life and fame 2 Institutions founded 3 Political and Social Campaigns o 3.1 Bharat Swabhiman o 3.2 On agriculture and dietary practices o 3.3 Illegal Mining 4 Protests against black money o 4.1 Views and stand on black money o 4.2 Protest at Delhi 4.2.1 Aftermath of the Delhi protest and hunger strike 4.2.2 End of hunger strike 5 Controversies and criticisms o 5.1 Alleged link with RSS and BJP o 5.2 11 Billion Rupees Empire o 5.3 Labour Law violations and Animal parts in medicines o 5.4 Views on AIDS and sex education o 5.5 Claims of curing cancer o 5.6 Views on homosexuality 6 Awards and recognitions 7 See also 8 References

9 External links

[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life

Image of Mother and Father of Ramdev

He was born as Ram Krishna Yadav to Gulabo Devi and Ram Nivas Yadav in the village Ali Saiyad Pur (Alipur) of Mahendragarh district in Haryana state of India. He was inspired by the portraits of Ram Prasad 'Bismil' and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose that were hung in his room.[2] According to his statements in an open Yog Shivir at Shahjahanpur, when he grew up and read the autobiography of Ram Prasad 'Bismil', his mind was totally cleansed. After completing his middle education of eighth standard from Shahjadpur Haryana, he joined Aarsh (Arya) Gurukul, Khanpur and studied Sanskrit and Yoga under the guidance of Acharya Pradumn. After he received teachings from Acharya Baldevji, he renounced worldly life, entering into Sanyas and changed his name from Ram Krishna to Ramdev.[3] (Note: The Hindi word swami means master). 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 and spent several years studying ancient Indian scriptures at Gurukul Kangari. This included a rare book of Aurobindo Ghosh, Yogik Sadhan, translated from Bangla into Hindi by Ram Prasad 'Bismil'.[4] After reading this small booklet he went to the caves of Himalaya and practiced intense selfdiscipline and meditation.

[edit] Contemporary life and fame

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.[5] 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".[6] His yog-camps are attended by a large number of people in India and abroad.

[edit] Institutions founded

Monument of Maharshi Charaka in the Campus of Patanjali Yog Peeth Haridwar 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.[7][8] 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.

View of the Patanjali Yog Peeth situated at Haridwar 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 its authorised journal 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.[9] Patanjali Yog Peeth has acquired a Scottish Island for about 2 million to set up a wellness retreat. The Little Cumbrae Island, off the fishing town of Largs in Scotland, will also serve as the Patanjali Yog Peeths base overseas, where yoga will be taught. The acquisition of the land itself was carried out by a Scottish couple of Indian origin, Sam and Sunita Poddar, to expand the base of Yog in abroad. This project will be run by Patanjali Yogpeeth (UK) Trust.[10]

[edit] Political and Social Campaigns

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.[11][12]

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[13] of Bharat Swabhiman campaign are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 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.

[edit] 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.[14] 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.[15] 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 a completely different India[16]

[edit] Illegal Mining

According to Bharat Swabhiman Trust, there is permission for only 200 mining leases but about one hundred thousands illegal mines are operational in the country.[17] He also describes illegal mining in India as one of the major social issue that requires an immediate ban.

[edit] Protests against black money

Main article: Indian black money

[edit] Views and stand on black money

Swami Ramdev has been associated with the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement and was involved in the Jan Lokpal agitation[18] In February 2011, he gave the following steps for eradication of black money:[19] 1. 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. 2. Agree to and accept the U.N. Convention against Corruption pending since 2006. 3. Death penalty provision for the corrupt persons in Indian Penal Code. 4. Access, monitor and disrupt payment gateway servers enabling corrupt people to manage money in tax havens. 5. Scrutinizing accounts of people having credit/debit cards of foreign banks without any foreign work/relation. 6. Disabling operations of any bank from a tax haven country. The practicality of such steps has been called into question.[11] He has raised the issue of Indian money stashed away illegally in Swiss Bank which is estimated to be anywhere between 1 to 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 N.R.I.s, 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.[20][21]

[edit] Protest at Delhi

Main article: Ramlila ground protests

In 2011, Swami Ramdev declared at Bangalore that he will go on hunger strike from June 4, 2011 in Delhi and asked his followers also to join his crusade.[22][23] He declared publicly that one of the main objective of the movement is to root out corruption from India and bring back the black money stashed away in various financial institutions abroad to India and declare it a national property. On May 28, the government set up a panel to suggest steps to curb black money and its transfer abroad, in an apparent bid to placate Ramdev.[24] Afterwards, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote to Ramdev and requested him to cancel his fast, but Ramdev refused.[25] He booked Ramlila ground of Delhi for 1 month in protest of black money and declared 4 June as start date of fast unto death.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 government's initiative on corruption.[26]On 4 June morning 65,000 followers of the yoga teacher had gathered at Ramlila Ground[27] By noon queues extending up to 3 km from the entry point of Ram Lila Grounds and were seen chanting 'Vande Mataram'.In a press conference in the evening Kapil Sibbal made public a letter from Ramdev's camp to call off the hunger strike. Ramdev took it as a betrayal of the Government and hardened the position by declaring not to take back his Satyagrah until a proper Ordinace is announced in place of Committee. In the evening, Informer had told Baba Ramdev that thousands of policemen may try to clear out the tents. Further informer added that the police could also kill him in a fake encounter or set the tent on fire.[28]. At the midnight,Delhi Police raided the ground when most Satyagrahis were sleeping and Ramdev was busy at a meeting with his core group. [29] A large police force lobbed tear gas shells and lathicharged to evict the crowd from 1a.m. to 4 a.m. 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. Meanwhile, Baba Ramdev requested policemen that "Do not beat the people here, I am ready to court arrest" [30]. Delhi Police kept Ramdev in a government guesthouse for a few hours and then sent him to his Ashram in Haridwar under police custody .[31] Police fired tear gas, lathcharged people who were peacefully fasting. Also, Police ruthlessly beat fasting men, women and children to chase them out of the Ramlila maindan. . Reportedly 53 persons were injured and were treated at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital,AIIMS trauma center and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.[32][33][34] Protesters huddled near the Metro station, bus depots and railway stations. Many walked down to Gurdwara Bangla Sahib and other nearby Ashrams.[35] 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.[36] Baba Ramdev was taken by police out side Delhi and prohibited him 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.[37] 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.[38] Dr Jaideep Arya, a key advisor of Ramdevs team, said that about 19 girls students from the Chotipur Gurukul, who were seated near the dais, are estimated to be still missing.[39] Suman, womens 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.[39] T.V. channels were telecasting the the footage of the scene in Ramlia Ground. [edit] Aftermath of the Delhi protest and hunger strike 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.[40] All political parties other than the Congress Party condemned the police action, called it undemocratic and naked fascism,[41] deplorable and shortsighted.[42] [43] It was even compared it with the Emergency[41] and the Jalianwala.[41] 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.[44] 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".[45] 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[46] Protests were held in many different parts of the country.[47] Protest were held in Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jammu, Lucknow among other several cities of India.[48] 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 ground in New Delhi.[49] 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 Ramdevs supporters at Ramlila ground.[50] 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 hunger strike and satyagraha at Haridwar only from 6 June 2011 onwards.[51][52][53] 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.[54][55][56] [edit] End of hunger strike Baba Ramdev ended his fast on the 9th 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 Ravishankar and various other saints he ended his fast.[57] 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 flavourless reaction by saying it as "good".[58]

[edit] Controversies and criticisms

[edit] Alleged link with RSS and BJP
Ramdev is supposedly linked by RSS by many politicians.Lalu Yadav said in a press conference- "Sadhvi Ritambhara was the first one to share the stage (with Ramdev at ramlila protest). She was the one who was responsible for the Babri Masjid demolition". [59] Digvijay Singh,Congress general secretary alleged that all the 5 star arrangements at Ramlila ground protests were done by right activist group RSS and VHP.[60] Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said-"Some people with vested interest are hijacking and remote controlling the protest by RSS and BJP". He also alleged that nation wide protest by Ramdev is being financed by RSS. Initially RSS leader Ram Madhav made distance on this issue.[61] But later on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said- "The RSS was not behind the stir launched by Ramdev seeking repatriation of the black money stashed illegally in foreign banks but have extended all support to it (agitation)." He added- "RSS cannot remain a mute spectator to the social revolution taking place against corruption and black money. Therefore, it has asked its cadres to join the agitation"[62]

[edit] 11 Billion Rupees Empire

Ramdev is allegedly called as business tycoon,has built a global yoga empire that stretches from India to a remote island in Scotland, with declared revenues since 1995 of 11 billion rupees ($220 million)."I've become so powerful, I can uproot a government. I don't have financial or legal power, but in a democracy I have the power of the people," he declared in an interview with Indian magazine Tehelka last year.[63][64]Though there were discussions in public domain that various media and political parties are questioning his credibility and raising allegations, making Ramdev a fun object, calling him a thug, instead of debating about the issues raised by him [65].

[edit] Labour Law violations and Animal parts in medicines

In March 2005, 113 employees of Divya Yoga Mandir Trust, Haridwar started an agitation for minimum wages and employees's rights such as coverage under the Provident Fund and Employees' State Insurance schemes. After a tripartite meeting, an agreement was reached between the workers, management and the district administration. However, some agitating workers were dismissed by the Trustees after being alleged to be responsible for sabotage. Their case was taken up by the trade union Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist). They are still to be reinstated.[66][67] Brinda Karat, a senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was involved with the protesters and was told by disgruntled workers that animal parts were used in the manufacture of some medicines. In January 2006, she accused the Divya Pharmacy, owned by Divya Yog Mandir Trust for using human and animal bones in their medicines. Samples of the medicines Kulya Bhasm (Mixture) and Yauvanamrit Vati purchased from Brahmakalp Chikitsalaya- the Trust's Hospital at Haridwar were allegedly tested at government labs and the presence of animal materials in the sample was confirmed.[66] However, the source of the samples was disputed, as these had been supplied by Karat to the labs and not procured by government officials. Karat produced what were claimed to be the prescription and cash receipt obtained from the medicine counter for the samples provided.[66][67][68] Her controversial remarks drew strong condemnation from several politicians in North India, like Sharad Pawar, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Narayan Dutt Tiwari.[69] Subsequently she received a legal notice on the behalf of a B.J.P. leader in Faridabad.[70] A few month later in 2006, four samples were sent to the government recognized Shriram Institute of Industrial Research in Delhi. Negating the report from this institute the Union Health Ministry said to have found animal DNA in the samples, although most of the newspapers carried reports to the contrary.[71]

[edit] 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, which was the way to AIDS awareness, prevention and cure.[72] "Sex education in schools need 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.[73] In response, Ramdev retracted his statement and said the claims were not directly his, but those of patients who practiced yoga.[74]

[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, brain tumors and leukemia by practicing the seven breathing exercises. In a residential camp held in Yog Gram, Haridwar during 1925 June 2008, several cancer patients stepped forward to recount first-hand stories of their successful bouts with blood, prostate and breast cancer using Pranayam or breathing exercises.[75] Swami Ramdev has claimed having documented proof of his successes, but has failed to provide any to the media or the 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."[76]

[edit] Awards and recognitions

January 2007 Honorary Doctorate, by Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar, in recognition of his efforts to popularize the Vedic system/science of Yoga.[77] March 2010 Honored with Degree of Doctorate of Sciences by Amity University Noida. April 2010 Honored with honorary degree of Doctor of Science by Dr D. Y. Patil Deemed University. January 2011 Honored with Sri Chandrashekharendra Saraswati National Eminence Award by Maharashtra Governor K. Shankaranarayanan.[78