01-05-2006, 02:17 AM
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> Left spits and runs
The Pioneer Edit Desk
The Left, especially the CPI(M), has mastered the sinister art of hurling unfounded allegations, maligning individuals and organisations, and peddling slander as 'truth'. Witness the manner in which CPI(M) Politburo member and Rajya Sabha MP Brinda Karat has levelled serious and potentially damaging charges against Baba Ramdev and the Ayurvedic medicines prepared and marketed by his Divya Yog Pharmacy at Khankal near Haridwar in Uttaranchal.
In a sensational 'disclosure', Ms Karat has claimed that Baba Ramdev's Ayurvedic medicines contain animal and human parts and that these contents are not listed on the label as required under the law. To buttress her outrageous claim, she has also produced a letter from the Union Health Ministry. What does not seem to have struck her - or perhaps she chose to ignore the contents of the letter, smug in the belief that a Comrade's word is taken as the absolute truth - is that the Health Ministry has not endorsed her slanderous charge.
On the contrary, it has pointed out, and this merits reiteration, that the samples were collected by her and not by independent inspectors or State drug controllers as per established procedure; that they were labelled as products of Divya Pharmacy, Rishikesh and not Divya Yog Pharmacy, Khankal; and, that Uttaranchal authorities have been asked to take further action.
Most important, the letter does not mention that the samples had any trace of animal or human parts. Yet, Ms Karat, in true Communist style, has chosen to spit and run, confident that neither she nor the CPI(M) will ever be made accountable for such gross and defamatory misrepresentation. Baba Ramdev has been prompt in countering the allegations, but if he were to opt for legal remedy, we can be sure that the Left as a whole will unleash a venomous campaign, tarring him and his millions of followers for daring to challenge the Marxist version of 'truth'.
Of course, there is the other possibility that Ms Karat will just refuse to turn up in court, feigning illness or indisposition. That example was set by Comrade Harkishen Singh Surjeet, who, after wilfully maligning actor Anupam Kher and hounding him out of the Censor Board, did not have the courage to respond to court summons in a subsequent defamation case.
However, the essential cowardice - a trait shared by all bullies - of our Leftists need not detain us. What is of concern to society at large is the Left's, more notably the CPI(M)'s, nefarious campaign against Baba Ramdev's attempt to revive indigenous and traditional systems of medicine which, in the long run, could dent the profit margins of multinational drug companies. Ironically, Ms Karat, while promoting her twisted perception of this nation and its traditions, has served a blow for the very MNCs whom her party misses no chance to berate.
Or is the Left's anti-MNC rhetoric merely a ruse to mislead the masses? There may be more than a grain of truth in Baba Ramdev's counter-charge; the history of Communism is replete with amazing tales of strange and apparently inexplicable alliances. It is, after all, an ideology preached with a forked tongue.
This paper believes that irrespective of the individuals involved, if the law has been violated, the guilty should be punished. But judgement cannot be pronounced by Ms Karat and her comrades who have little regard for facts and even lesser respect for truth. India is a democracy governed by the law of the land, not a Communist dictatorship ruled by commissars.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> Left spits and runs
The Pioneer Edit Desk
The Left, especially the CPI(M), has mastered the sinister art of hurling unfounded allegations, maligning individuals and organisations, and peddling slander as 'truth'. Witness the manner in which CPI(M) Politburo member and Rajya Sabha MP Brinda Karat has levelled serious and potentially damaging charges against Baba Ramdev and the Ayurvedic medicines prepared and marketed by his Divya Yog Pharmacy at Khankal near Haridwar in Uttaranchal.
In a sensational 'disclosure', Ms Karat has claimed that Baba Ramdev's Ayurvedic medicines contain animal and human parts and that these contents are not listed on the label as required under the law. To buttress her outrageous claim, she has also produced a letter from the Union Health Ministry. What does not seem to have struck her - or perhaps she chose to ignore the contents of the letter, smug in the belief that a Comrade's word is taken as the absolute truth - is that the Health Ministry has not endorsed her slanderous charge.
On the contrary, it has pointed out, and this merits reiteration, that the samples were collected by her and not by independent inspectors or State drug controllers as per established procedure; that they were labelled as products of Divya Pharmacy, Rishikesh and not Divya Yog Pharmacy, Khankal; and, that Uttaranchal authorities have been asked to take further action.
Most important, the letter does not mention that the samples had any trace of animal or human parts. Yet, Ms Karat, in true Communist style, has chosen to spit and run, confident that neither she nor the CPI(M) will ever be made accountable for such gross and defamatory misrepresentation. Baba Ramdev has been prompt in countering the allegations, but if he were to opt for legal remedy, we can be sure that the Left as a whole will unleash a venomous campaign, tarring him and his millions of followers for daring to challenge the Marxist version of 'truth'.
Of course, there is the other possibility that Ms Karat will just refuse to turn up in court, feigning illness or indisposition. That example was set by Comrade Harkishen Singh Surjeet, who, after wilfully maligning actor Anupam Kher and hounding him out of the Censor Board, did not have the courage to respond to court summons in a subsequent defamation case.
However, the essential cowardice - a trait shared by all bullies - of our Leftists need not detain us. What is of concern to society at large is the Left's, more notably the CPI(M)'s, nefarious campaign against Baba Ramdev's attempt to revive indigenous and traditional systems of medicine which, in the long run, could dent the profit margins of multinational drug companies. Ironically, Ms Karat, while promoting her twisted perception of this nation and its traditions, has served a blow for the very MNCs whom her party misses no chance to berate.
Or is the Left's anti-MNC rhetoric merely a ruse to mislead the masses? There may be more than a grain of truth in Baba Ramdev's counter-charge; the history of Communism is replete with amazing tales of strange and apparently inexplicable alliances. It is, after all, an ideology preached with a forked tongue.
This paper believes that irrespective of the individuals involved, if the law has been violated, the guilty should be punished. But judgement cannot be pronounced by Ms Karat and her comrades who have little regard for facts and even lesser respect for truth. India is a democracy governed by the law of the land, not a Communist dictatorship ruled by commissars.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->