The national vice-president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Dr. Navjot Singh Dahiya filed a complaint on Saturday against Baba Ramdev, a spiritual leader and the founder of Patanjali for his unscientific mockery of Covid19 patients.
In a viral video, Ramdev says, “Patients don’t know how to breathe properly and, therefore, spread negativity and complain of more shortage of oxygen and cremation sites.” He further goes on to say that because god has filled the whole universe with oxygen, oxygen cylinders are pointless.
शर्मनाक!pic.twitter.com/V71GmOs6ef
Ramdev then tells people with Covid-related oxygen deficiencies to do yoga breathing exercises like Anulom vilom Pranayama and Kapalbhati Pranayama, falsely claiming that he brought people’s oxygen levels from the 80s to the 90s via these exercises.
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According to Dr. Dahiya, a criminal case should be registered against Ramdev for spreading propaganda and creating panic among Indian citizens by stating that Remdesivir and other injections used for Covid19 treatments lead to death. He says, “[Ramdev] gave advice to the COVID-19 patients against the advice/directions issued by the Government of India for the treatment of COVID-19 and in that way pushed the patients towards their deathbeds without any treatment from the hospital. The accused should be punished as per law.” Dr. Dahiya also adds that Ramdev used derogatory language against doctors and the medical fraternity.
Ramdev also recently drew criticism for launching unapproved Covid19 drugs like “Coronil” and for hawking yoga as a cure for Type-1 diabetes, an autoimmune disorder. Several health organizations in the U.K. issued warnings to ensure that diabetic people did not go off their insulin due to Ramdev’s “alternative cure.”
The Jalandhar deputy commissioner of police (DCP) confirmed that a complaint had been filed and that the team was working to ascertain the video’s authenticity. Dr. Dahiya also claimed that if no FIR is filed, he will take the matter to court.