Alleged ayurvedic company Patanjali’s founder, Ramdev, has long been criticized for his irrational and false claims. This time, the IMA (Indian Medical Association) has sent a defamation notice to the yoga guru after he passed derogatory comments against allopathy and allopathic doctors recently. In the legal notice, the body said it will demand compensation of Rs 1000 crore from Ramdev if he fails to give a written apology to them within 15 days from the date of the document.
Ramdev’s remarks are damaging to the reputation and image of allopathy and close to 2,000 doctors who work with the body, the IMA said through lawyer Neeraj Pandey.
Sent on behalf of IMA Uttarakhand secretary Ajay Khanna, the 6-page notice calls the disparaging remarks a “criminal act” that comes under IPC section 499. A written apology is required from the yoga guru within 15 days, failing which, the association will demand compensation of Rs 50 lakh per IMA member, coming to Rs 1000 crore.
Ramdev had also posted a video criticizing allopathic doctors for not being able to treat covid patients. Reacting to the allegations, the notice told him to post another video in which he would withdraw his accusations and contradict them on all social media platforms.
The false narrative of “Coronil kit” of his business house being an effective cure for covid-19 was also told to be withdrawn as it is a “misleading advertisement”. In case Ramdev doesn’t abide by this, the IMA will file an FIR and a criminal case against him, the association said.
In a previous video, Ramdev was heard questioning the efficiency and nature of the medicines used essentially to treat covid patients. He said that “lakhs have died from taking allopathic medicines for COVID-19” and criticized allopathy further. On Sunday, he was forced to take the statement back made in the viral clip after IMA doctors lashed out at the Patanjali founder for his contemptuous comments.
The statement was withdrawn after Health Minister Harsh Vardhan called it an “extremely unfortunate” remark and asked him to take it back.
In what seemed to be a tit-for-tat and comeback for forcing him, Ramdev posted an open letter enlisting 25 questions to the IMA just a day after the statement was withdrawn. In the tweet, he raised several questions about allopathy’s potential to cure conditions like hypertension and type-1 and type-2 diabetes permanently.
The yoga guru also enumerated modern-day diseases like Parkinson’s and asked if allopathy could provide any painless method by which infertility could be treated. He raised similar questions regarding ageing and an increase in haemoglobin.
Chipping in to support the highly criticized so-called “baba” was his close associate Acharya Balkrishna who tweeted saying that IMA was targeting Ramdev and Ayurveda as it is apparently some “conspiracy” of the association.
His Twitter post read, “As part of the conspiracy to convert the entire country into #Christianity, #Yoga and #Ayurveda are being maligned by targeting @yogrishiramdev jee. Countrymen, wake up now from the deep slumber otherwise the generations to come will not forgive you.”
