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Author:
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: January 6, 2006
Member of Parliament from Rajya Sabha Brinda Karat's remarks and allegations on yoga guru Ramdev have irked the surfers. It's quite clear they are extremely angry with both the MP and HindustanTimes.com.
Almost all felt Karat was working at the behest of the MNCs who are angry with Ramdevji for advocating against their wares.
The surfers have accused us of being partisan because they thought we gave a 'misleading' headline.
In our story 'Ramdev's medicines have animal matter: Ramadoss', they said that the Health Minister stated very clearly that the samples were not collected by a Government department, but were provided by the MP herself. So, how could we presume that they were true, they screamed?
Kolkata's Shiva felt this was "an example of irresponsible journalism."
He further added, "The heading is very misleading as it points fingers at Swami Ramdev but the detailed article tells that the samples were not directly collected from his organisation. It has been supplied by Karat and not from his organisation."
Many bought the logic that all this was being done at the behest of influential MNCs.
Sangeeta from New Delhi was quite clear on this point.
She said, "It is clear the media works just like a business house and tries to spread sensationalism by giving such titles. It is not Hindustan Times that is spreading such rumours. They are guided by companies such as Pepsi and Coke who also fund them. Every channel is unnecessarily highlighting this because it makes good business sense."
Some like Panjak from Bangalore were appalled at Hindustan Times, picking on anything remotely connected with a "Hindu" tag and brandishing it as pro-BJP issue.
Here's how he explained it.
"I just fail to understand why Hindustan Times has to colour everything politically. What has BJP got to do with Baba Ramdev? Or is it that anybody who preaches the established Hindu lifestyle is a BJP-walla? Is it because Brinda Karat can't stand Ramdev?"
He had a request for Karat. "Do whatever political hara-kiri you want to, but please for God sake do not mess up things which otherwise are okay. Call Vajpayee names, call BJP names, call Congress names, do whatever you please, spare the life and the lifestyle, unless your sole agenda is to dismantle everything that has anything to do with Hindu belief system."
Is Karat listening?
Anuradha of Dubai was alarmed at the extent to which political system had been bought by MNCs.
She was her caustic best and said, "Thank you Karat for being a traitor and betraying your nation and people for your personal benefits. You have sold our future to multinationals!"
"Your actions will destroy the sanctity of an individual and institution who have contributed immensely to the benefit of Indians."
LC Kapur from New Delhi was of the opinion that the basis of any treatment was to give relief to the patient.
He said, "Allopathic drugs contain so many components that are tremendously toxic and harmful but are still used with the underlying intention of curing the suffering."
So why target Ramdevji, he asked?
Michelle Sharma of Mumbai felt sorry that "we still have selfish leaders as politicians who will go to any extent to fulfil their greed even if it costs the nation."
This is reason why we have been enslaved so often in our history, she felt.
"Baba Ramdevji has done such a good job for humanity and his instructions will ensure that Indians will have healthy minds and healthy bodies. He has earned the ire of some multinationals who have hired our corrupt politicians who will do anything for personal favour," she said firmly.
JS Acharya from Hyderabad took a more balanced approach on the issue. While he was clear no one ought to be victimised for political ends, he admitted that quackery was widespread in the country in the garb of Indian systems of medicine.
But a professional, A Bhatia of Thane expressed implicit faith in Ramdev.
Here's what he said. "You should study what Swamiji has to say before treating the matter so lightly. There is a lot of wisdom gathered from our rishis, which he is spreading. My comments are based on my personal experience. I am from IIT Roorkee and have been in medical engineering for 35 years with a close interaction with the best in medicine."
Kedarnath Aiyar from Mumbai was point blank in targeting HindustanTimes.com for the headline.
"Please ask yourself if your headline is fair and unbiased vis-a-vis what you have reported in the body of the news report? Please be careful in reporting on the subject. Ramdoss himself admits that the samples were sent by Karat and not picked up directly from a pharmacy in Haridwar. And in all these, the real authorities, the FDA, are nowhere in the picture."
Sanjeev was San Francisco was certain of a conspiracy here.
"Brinda Karat got her own bottle of Ayurvedic medicine and got tested with human DNA. If you want to defame any pharmaceutical company, buy some medicine from the market and add some ant killer in it and pay huge sums of money to MPs to defame that company because there are no norms to collect the sample and no laws of the land."
Asking HindustanTimes.com to be careful, Catcanind from New Delhi, said, "I am not partner of Swami Ramdev, but I have seen patients who are content with his medicines."
Mitesh from Edison, US called it "a Leftist conspiracy aimed at harming Ramdevji's image".
Amit from Kurukshetra felt it is very "easy for people like Brinda Karat to tamper with reports".
He went on to add, "Ramdevji is clean. He is just trying to save people and India from these multinational companies and their bad effects of their medicines. It is really sad that a person like Ramdevji is being accused of all this."
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