HYDERABAD: Senior Congress leader Dr J. Geetha Reddy demanded that the Centre prosecute Baba Ramdev and Balakrishna of Patanjali Group for their utterances against the medical fraternity and for claiming that allopathy was a 'stupid science', at a time when doctors were fighting relentlessly against Covid-19.
She demanded stringent action against both of them for misleading people on allopathy and for inciting communal discord.
In a letter written to Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, on behalf of the AICC All India Professionals' Congress (AIPC), Dr Geetha Reddy said "Baba Ramdev's remarks were not only ill-conceived and dangerous but also contributed to vaccine hesitancy in an already fearful climate. He also claimed that people succumbed to the illness because of allopathic medicines rather than oxygen shortage.
"To make matters worse, Ramdev's close-aide Acharya Balakrishna, chairman of Patanjali Group, added a communal twist with his tweet that it was all a conspiracy to convert the entire country to Christianity and to malign both yoga and ayurveda by targeting Baba Ramdev. He further instigated communal fears by urging the countrymen to wake up before it is too late. Adding fuel, Ramdev asserted that he would convert at least 1,000 allopathic doctors to ayurveda,"
Geeta Reddy, who is also regional coordinator, south zone, AIPC, stated.
The actions of Ramdev and Balakrishna are in clear violation of Article 51A of the Constitution, Indian Penal Code 1860 and the Disaster Management Act 2005 and attracted legal action, she noted.
"Such statements are dangerous and harmful to the public and detrimental to public health. They ought to be prosecuted as their comments are dissuading people from getting vaccinated," she added.
She expressed concern over the Centre's failure in initiating swift action against them.
"Unfortunately, the Centre has not just failed in its duty but is, in fact, encouraging pedding of fake news, rumour-mongering against vaccinations and doctors, and inciting communal hatred," the Congress leader said.
