A hunger strike by Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev has B.C.’s South Asian community up in arms with one side calling him a fake swami and others chastising the Indian government for cracking down on him and his followers.
Ramdev, admired by millions as a ‘Godman’ began the hunger strike June 4 to demand anti-corruption measures by the government, including the repatriation of money held illegally by Indians in foreign banks.
He ended the nine-day hunger strike against corruption last weekend at the urging of a group of spiritual leaders but vowed to mobilize his massive global following to fight graft in his homeland.
His protest in New Delhi was broken up by police and he returned to his hermitage in Hardwar to continue his fast. Some of his followers were injured in the crackdown.
The Indian government and the ruling Congress party this week launched a fresh round of attacks on the yoga guru, calling him a “dhongi” or fake and promised to expose his business empire worth tens of millions of dollars.
Charan Gill, president of the Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society, which helped organize Ramdev’s B.C. appearance in 2008 at the Cloverdale Rodeo Fair Grounds, said Swami Ramdev has done marvelous work in India on health issues by teaching yoga to ordinary people who are living unhealthy lifestyle.
“Recent activities in India include Baba Ramdev fasting to end corruption, which is a positive thing and is considered across the world as a step in the right direction to shed light on the corruption in India,” said Gill.
“However, the subsequent actions that the Indian government has taken to humiliate Swami Ramdev are deplorable. It appears that politics are being played to demerit the work and action that Swami Ramdev has taken.”
Surrey’s Avnash Banwait, who has attended Ramdev’s camps in a letter, said he believes the Indian government will go after Swami Ramdev on a personal level now to harass him because of his justified demands to end corruption.
“Swami Ramdev has been fighting for this noble cause in India for years, while others have sat silent. Corruption is like a cancer for the developing economy of a country like India.”
But others like Kuldip Dhillon in Vancouver said Ramdev is only interested in grabbing the reins of power in India.
“He may have done wonders for yoga but what he is doing now is will destroy the credibility of his movement because he is working with opposition political parties which have an agenda,” said Dhillon.
Rama Samy of Burnaby agreed and said that the yoga guru’s call to raise a militia in India is nothing short of terrorism in the State and that Canada should ensure that his followers here not raise money for the guru.
Ramdev’s protest is part of a campaign by civil society groups to demand government accountability after a series of corruption scandals have rocked Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government in recent months, including the 2008 sale of mobile telephone licences that was estimated to have caused a potential loss of 39 billion dollars to the exchequer.
The Indian government is also facing intense pressure from the opposition parties as well as the Supreme Court to take action against those having stashed illicit wealth in foreign banks, mainly in Switzerland and other locations such as Liechtenstein and Cayman Islands.
The yoga guru’s actions are supported by the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
Ramdev, has also said he would raise an armed militia to protect his followers.
Before ending his fast last weekend Ramdev, said he was looking for young men and women aged 30 to 40.
‘They must be dedicated, ready to make the ultimate sacrifice. They will be given arms training. We will build an army of 11,000 men and women.”
Within hours of Ramdev ending his fast and sipping fruit juice at a hospital last weekend,  India’s Congress party general secretary B.K. Hariprasad dubbed him a fraud, while another general secretary Digvijay Singh called the fast a “nautanki” or drama.
Digvijay Singh, the most vocal critic of Ramdev in the Congress, demanded a probe into alleged money laundering by his trust. He also ruled out further talks with Ramdev on the corruption issue, claiming the government had already met most of his demands.
“He is a ‘dhongi (fake) baba.”
Adored by millions around the globe, Ramdev has made a name for himself with claims he can cure illnesses - from acne to cancer - through yoga and breathing techniques.
Everyday 20 million Indians dutifully watch and mimic his impressive movements and calming breathing techniques.
Even the Indian army, the second largest in the world after China’s, follows a routine based on Ramdev’s teachings.
But behind all the talk of healing and spirituality hides a lot of cash. Besides the television show, Ramdev has spun out a web of CDs, DVDs, oils, medicines, clinics and camps such as the ones held in Vancouver and Toronto two years ago.
According to Ramdev, politics has become big business and India badly needs a “king who is restrained, honest and universal in approach to politics.”
The revolution will come through yoga, he believes. And so, in his quest, he will be training 100,000 teachers for 600,000 Indian villages.