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The controversy surrounding Baba Ramdev and his comments on allopathic treatments amid a raging COVID-19 pandemic has flared up after the Yoga Guru wrote an open letter to the Indian Medical Association (IMA), asking them 25 questions on allopathy.
The letter by Ramdev came after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had written to him expressing disappointment over the former’s comments in a widely circulated video where he is heard saying that allopathy is “a stupid science” and medicines such as Remdesivir, Fabiflu, and other drugs approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) have failed to treat COVID-19 patients.
As the IMA demanded action against Ramdev, he retracted his statement on allopathy following Vardhan’s letter.
However, Ramdev then wrote an open letter to the IMA, asking for cures for several diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, and blockages in the heart, along with cures for humanising rude and violent people” and “sorting out differences between practitioners of Ayurveda and allopathy”.
In a letter to the IMA, Ramdev asked 25 questions, seeking cure for diseases like diabetes, hypertension, Parkinson’s disease, along with painless solutions to lose weight and infertility.
Ramdev also asked the IMA if allopathy could cure “violent and rude people” or if it could “resolve the differences between allopathy and Ayurveda.” Ramdev also asked how allopathic doctors could get sick if the science was so successful.
As the controversy grew, Baba Ramdev appeared on TV news channel Aaj Tak, where he was questioned for allegedly humiliating doctors.
In the show hosted by journalist Anjana Om Kashyap, many praised Dr Lele.
Several others took to Twitter to slam Ramdev’s unscientific statements and accused him of resorting to publicity stunts at the peak of the pandemic.
Many also alleged the Central government’s of having a timid response to Ramdev’s statements and demanded his arrest for spreading false claims amid the pandemic.
Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, Ramdev has made several unscientific claims on COVID-19.
Earlier in 2020, Ramdev’s company Patanjali Ayurveda also touted Coronil as a cure for COVID-19, a statement that was later retracted by the company, following a controversy.
In several of his Yoga sessions, Ramdev can be heard questioning allopathic treatments for COVID-19 that are being used globally. He has also claimed that thousands of doctors have died of COVID-19 despite undergoing the treatments.
Recently, Sunil Bansal, who headed the dairy business of Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda, died of COVID-19. In a statement, Patanjali said that it had “no role in his allopathic treatment which was being coordinated by his wife”.
On Tuesday, IMA’s Uttararanchal State Branch also wrote to Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat over Ramdev's statements against allopathic treatments.
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