“Dear Baba Ramdev, in the past year, I have lost a lot of colleagues — senior and junior, some recently married and some with young children. They died serving the nation. Not one day did they decide not to wear the PPE and come to the hospital. They could have chosen to hide safely behind a bubble like you did, but they did not.”Dr Abhishek Tandon, Resident (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine), All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur
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.
“The questions he has posed are childish and nonsensical. It’s nothing but a distraction from all the serious issues happening in our country now.”Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti, Ex-President of AIIMS Resident Doctors’ Association
Ramdev has made many unscientific and dangerous claims recently, from mocking patients looking for oxygen saying they can just breathe the air to get what they need, to peddling Patanjali's herbal concoction Coronil to be a "100 percent cure" without any scientific basis. But his recent comments have not only ignited another unnecessary division between Ayurveda and Modern Medicine but have also insulted frontliners who have been working tirelessly since the pandemic began, to keep us safe.
“I beg you to arrest Ramdev and stand by your frontline corona warriors,” says Dr Manish Jangra, Founder FAIMA, RML RDA Spokesperson.
Watch their anger and frustration at Ramdev’s comments.
(This story was originally published in FIT and has been republished with permission.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)