Chennai: Baba Ramdev and his Patanjali stores seem to have landed in hot water, going by the social media attack on the Yoga Guru for his alleged charge that Dr Ambedkar and Periyar had “spread intellectual terrorism”.
Heavy trolling is still on for his ‘blasphemy’ against the iconic social reformers, with several of the posts demanding that Ramdev should apologise while a few others have also called for boycott of his Patanjali products.
Some have demanded his arrest for causing disaffection in society. In fact, #ArrestRamdev is leading in twitter trending with angry posts from across the country.
There is fear among the law-enforcing agencies that the call for ‘boycott’ could even lead to violence by the Periyar followers in Tamil Nadu — there are thousands of them — targeting the Patanjali stores. There are about 20 of those stores just in Chennai. The trouble started with a TV interview of Ramdev a few days back in which he had said it was unfortunate that the followers of Periyar are growing in number though he had preached that only idiots would believe in God, who is actually a very large devil.
Also, the followers of Ambedkar are creating divisions, he had stated in that interview, adding that Lenin and Marx would never become important and relevant in India.
"Baba Ramdev is a stooge of Sanghi's and Bakths", tweeted AsokToday. "Having failed miserably in Tamilnadu politics, BJP and RSS will do anything and everything to brainwash the people of Tamilnadu and reverse the social engineering upliftment achieved by Tamilnadu. As a matter of fact Southern states are wealthier and more efficient than cow belt states and northerners are sucking south Indians. We the voters from Tamilnadu should understand that BJP and RSS are only hunting for foot soldiers from southern states. Captains and Generals shall be those who have a DNA linkage to Central Asian steppes", he has said on his hashtag.
Social scientist Vidya Bhushan Rawat has said on his twitter page that Ramdev would have benefited if only he had properly studied Ambedkar and Periyar. And then there is Vijay Sharma @VijaySh32608519, posting: “If Ramdev had the cheek to malign a saint like Periyar ..I wonder if South Indians will still bathe with his soap, put his oil in hair & eat his Chyawanprash”.
The state police is closely monitoring the angry outburst on social media. “We have not got any complaint from the Patanjali management or request for special security for its many stores across the state”, said a senior police officer, promising “full alert” to ensure nothing untoward happens.
