01-05-2006, 02:56 AM
Brinda Karat's real ailment. May be Prannoy "commie" Roy is itching to give appropriate "coverage" to the Swamiji.
Swami tastes Left's ire
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Swami tastes Left's ire
The Communists' tirade against Ramdev shows that the UPA's economic policies favour big business and foreign companies, says Anuradha Dutt
What ails CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat? This is a question that popular yoga guru Swami Ramdev's followers might well be asking after her renewed onslaught on the savant, known for prescribing ayurvedic and yogic nostrums for maladies, and for MNC-bashing.
Some months ago, Ms Karat had launched a similar assault, which soon receded from the news. Her tirade this time is along familiar lines, charging the Swami with manufacturing and selling ayurvedic products that contain powdered human bones and animal parts.
The Communist leader's attack is on two counts. One, vegetarians are not aware that his medicines contain non-vegetarian ingredients. And, two, by not listing these components on the products, the yogi had flouted licensing and labelling rules, set down by the Government. The charges, levied by a senior Communist leader, would certainly merit serious attention if only there were not so many lacunae in the case.
These have been pointed out by the accused himself. <b>First, there is no proof that the samples found faulty by the department of AYUSH (ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy) are medicines made by his pharmacy, since they were collected by Ms Karat and not by independent investigators. Further, the labels carry the name Divya Pharmacy, Rishikesh, while his own manufacturing unit is called Divya Yog Pharmacy and is located at Kankhal.</b>
<b>Second, the letter issued by the department of AYUSH, the basis for Ms Karat's campaign, though stating "a violation of licensing and labelling provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act (DCA), 1940", does not mention the presence of animal and human components in the medicines, meant for epilepsy and impotency. And, finally, the Swami detects the foreign hand, in this case, that of MNCs', in the campaign against him.</b>
Not one to mince words, Swami Ramdev came on various private news channels shortly after the controversy erupted to <b>question the motives for targeting him.</b> On her part, Ms Karat, by single-mindedly focusing attention on the Swami, among a host of yoga exponents and religious gurus who have stormed television channels, <b>has stoked doubts about her own impartiality.</b>
While there are others besides the Swami, who revile MNC fast foods, colas and pharmaceuticals as being injurious to health, <span style='color:red'>none has chosen to propagate the Sanatan way of life - that is, India's Hindu heritage, geared towards natural living - in such a concerted fashion.</span> Gujarat's widely watched Asaramji Maharaj, for instance, dismisses the ubiquitous kurkure as putrid but not with the same fervour as, say, <b>Swami Ramdev, who repeatedly debunks colas and their ilk, that he advises should be used as pesticides.</b> His forceful advocacy of ayurvedic medicines in place of allopathic remedies for common ailments is similarly geared towards a swadeshi revolution.
There can be no disputing the Swami's growing popularity, or his impact on millions of viewers across the world as the reach of satellite television extends to other continents. The vast Indian diaspora certainly has appreciated his message. Part of the same section supports the VHP's campaign for restoring Hindu pilgrimages, vandalised by Muslim invaders, and is reported to be funding revivalist Hindus. Even worse, so far as the Communists are concerned, in the red bastions of Kerala and West Bengal, which is scheduled to elect a new Assembly this year, Swami Ramdev is watched raptly by many among the Left's loyal vote-bank.
<b>In the event that his incessant invocation of ancient wisdom has managed to influence some of his viewers, the possibility of their political re-alignment is very real.</b> This might benefit the saffron camp at the hustings, or, at least, reduce the Communists' tally. For, among the galaxy of television gurus, <b>the Swami is the most overtly political in his sermons, which propagate cultural and economic nationalism more effectively</b> than the rabble-rousing of Hindutva activists.
<b><span style='color:red'>It is notable that the attack on the Swami should have occurred in the wake of a concerted campaign against alternative medicine, especially homoeopathy and ayurveda, in the West.</span></b> In the United States, certain aurvedic medicines have recently been banned for high mercury content. While allopathic medicine, especially surgery, has its virtues, especially in emergency cases that require expeditious treatment, alternative therapies are too often seen as a counter-measure, representing a different worldview and lifestyle that stresses the spiritual over the material. The conflict boils down to a clash between cultures and ideologies.
In the present instance, the CPI(M)'s clout with the ruling coalition has ensured that the Uttaranchal Government will conduct an enquiry into the Swami's ayurvedic work. Significantly, the Congress-led UPA's economic policies favour big business and foreign companies.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Swami tastes Left's ire
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Swami tastes Left's ire
The Communists' tirade against Ramdev shows that the UPA's economic policies favour big business and foreign companies, says Anuradha Dutt
What ails CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat? This is a question that popular yoga guru Swami Ramdev's followers might well be asking after her renewed onslaught on the savant, known for prescribing ayurvedic and yogic nostrums for maladies, and for MNC-bashing.
Some months ago, Ms Karat had launched a similar assault, which soon receded from the news. Her tirade this time is along familiar lines, charging the Swami with manufacturing and selling ayurvedic products that contain powdered human bones and animal parts.
The Communist leader's attack is on two counts. One, vegetarians are not aware that his medicines contain non-vegetarian ingredients. And, two, by not listing these components on the products, the yogi had flouted licensing and labelling rules, set down by the Government. The charges, levied by a senior Communist leader, would certainly merit serious attention if only there were not so many lacunae in the case.
These have been pointed out by the accused himself. <b>First, there is no proof that the samples found faulty by the department of AYUSH (ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy) are medicines made by his pharmacy, since they were collected by Ms Karat and not by independent investigators. Further, the labels carry the name Divya Pharmacy, Rishikesh, while his own manufacturing unit is called Divya Yog Pharmacy and is located at Kankhal.</b>
<b>Second, the letter issued by the department of AYUSH, the basis for Ms Karat's campaign, though stating "a violation of licensing and labelling provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act (DCA), 1940", does not mention the presence of animal and human components in the medicines, meant for epilepsy and impotency. And, finally, the Swami detects the foreign hand, in this case, that of MNCs', in the campaign against him.</b>
Not one to mince words, Swami Ramdev came on various private news channels shortly after the controversy erupted to <b>question the motives for targeting him.</b> On her part, Ms Karat, by single-mindedly focusing attention on the Swami, among a host of yoga exponents and religious gurus who have stormed television channels, <b>has stoked doubts about her own impartiality.</b>
While there are others besides the Swami, who revile MNC fast foods, colas and pharmaceuticals as being injurious to health, <span style='color:red'>none has chosen to propagate the Sanatan way of life - that is, India's Hindu heritage, geared towards natural living - in such a concerted fashion.</span> Gujarat's widely watched Asaramji Maharaj, for instance, dismisses the ubiquitous kurkure as putrid but not with the same fervour as, say, <b>Swami Ramdev, who repeatedly debunks colas and their ilk, that he advises should be used as pesticides.</b> His forceful advocacy of ayurvedic medicines in place of allopathic remedies for common ailments is similarly geared towards a swadeshi revolution.
There can be no disputing the Swami's growing popularity, or his impact on millions of viewers across the world as the reach of satellite television extends to other continents. The vast Indian diaspora certainly has appreciated his message. Part of the same section supports the VHP's campaign for restoring Hindu pilgrimages, vandalised by Muslim invaders, and is reported to be funding revivalist Hindus. Even worse, so far as the Communists are concerned, in the red bastions of Kerala and West Bengal, which is scheduled to elect a new Assembly this year, Swami Ramdev is watched raptly by many among the Left's loyal vote-bank.
<b>In the event that his incessant invocation of ancient wisdom has managed to influence some of his viewers, the possibility of their political re-alignment is very real.</b> This might benefit the saffron camp at the hustings, or, at least, reduce the Communists' tally. For, among the galaxy of television gurus, <b>the Swami is the most overtly political in his sermons, which propagate cultural and economic nationalism more effectively</b> than the rabble-rousing of Hindutva activists.
<b><span style='color:red'>It is notable that the attack on the Swami should have occurred in the wake of a concerted campaign against alternative medicine, especially homoeopathy and ayurveda, in the West.</span></b> In the United States, certain aurvedic medicines have recently been banned for high mercury content. While allopathic medicine, especially surgery, has its virtues, especially in emergency cases that require expeditious treatment, alternative therapies are too often seen as a counter-measure, representing a different worldview and lifestyle that stresses the spiritual over the material. The conflict boils down to a clash between cultures and ideologies.
In the present instance, the CPI(M)'s clout with the ruling coalition has ensured that the Uttaranchal Government will conduct an enquiry into the Swami's ayurvedic work. Significantly, the Congress-led UPA's economic policies favour big business and foreign companies.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->