image credit: The Hindu
The controversy started by Baba Ramdev’s comments on Allopathy refused to die down as the Uttarakhand division of the Indian Medical Association(IMA) on Wednesday slapped a Rs 1000 crore defamation notice on the spiritual leader. Amidst a war of words, the hashtag #ArrestRamdev started trending on various social media sites with netizens also debating on the merits and demerits of both the Ayurveda and Allopathy systems. In response, Ramdev said metaphorically, “arrest to unka baap bhi nhi kar sakta, Swami Ramdev ko”(no one has the guts to arrest me, Swami Ramdev)
The notice sent to the spiritual leader mentions that if he does not apologize and posts a video countering his earlier statements within 15 days, he will have to pay a sum of Rs 1,000 crore as damages. “Ramdev does not have sound knowledge and is engaging in rhetorics” alleged Dr. Ajay Khanna, President of IMA’s Uttarakhand unit.
According to the IMA, Ramdev claimed that over 10,000 doctors have died despite getting two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, which is an entirely false statement. The medical body appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take action against Baba Ramdev under various charges including sedition for “spearheading a misinformation campaign on Covid-19 vaccination”.
The Yoga guru had to face criticism from Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan as well who wrote a letter to him terming his remarks as “inappropriate”. In response, Ramdev denied that he is opposed to modern medical science and clarified that he is being quoted on basis of a WhatsApp message that he was reading. He further apologized for having hurt anyone’s sentiments.