Baba Ramdev’s true colour
Prof Dr P Chandra Sekharan
Mahathma used Fast (Sthyagraha) for noble causes. But Baba Ramdev’s ‘fast unto death’ is really a farce and has to be condemned outright. The crowds that flock around him merely exhibit the phenomenon of mass hysteria. It is patent that so many of them have no other jobs to do.
There is no second opinion that corruption prevalent in this country has to be rooted out. I don’t think the movement of these people can ever eradicate corruption from this country, because a vast majority of the people of this country are immune to corruption and they are the ones who corrupt authorities to get their things done. If the millions who bribe stop bribing, the hundreds who are bribed would automatically vanish. Why Yoga Guru does not teach the people not to give bribe. Instead he challenges the mighty government of India like the Persian warrior.
The half naked photographs of exhibitionistic nature displayed in the media show Ramdev more as a stud than as a Baba. His gesticulatory and violent outbursts do not portray him as a peace-loving sadhu but more as a ruffian. Babas and Sanyasis get caught in wealth and sex scandals. This ‘multimillionaire Sanyasi seems to have, in addition political ambition. He is proved to be a cheat because he got police permission to conduct yoga classes, but converted the meet as a political gathering to correct all political evils overnight and declare fast until death if not corrected.
I do not know why the Government of India was dilly dallying in Ramdev’s affairs for so long. It is just that the Government had used its long arm against him at least now. It is patent that he is political decoy prepared by the opposition. Government is right in probing how the Yoga Guru got 1000 crores worth property including his paradise island in Scotland.
I advocate suicide should not be considered as a crime and the same has to be removed from criminal law. Indian laws have to be amended in this regard. If somebody wants to commit suicide allow him to do so. Nobody was born out of legal sanction. Likewise nobody needs legal sanction to die. Vadakkiruthal (sit down facing the north, and starving to death) is a way of ending one's life with esteem, after having finished all his social duties and in all gratitude for the almighty God and is an accepted norm of ending one’s life as per his wish in our ancient civilization.
Of course vadakkiruthal has to be performed in isolated places like forests and caves and not in public gaze in Ramlila grounds. At least the government has to prohibit ‘fast unto death’ arousing public passion in public places. This is not a democratic way of agitation.
