The Supreme Court Tuesday came down heavily on Yoga Guru Ramdev for criticising allopathy, stating he needed to be restrained from abusing the doctors and other systems of treatment.
While hearing a plea filed by Indian Medical Association (IMA), the top court bench led by Chief Justice NV Ramana and justices Hima Kohli and C T Ravikumar, also sought responses from the Central Health Ministry and Ministry of Ayush and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd on allegations of a smear campaign against the vaccination drive and modern medicines.
“What happened to this Guru Swami Ramdev Baba?… Ultimately we respect him as he popularised Yoga. We all go for this. But, he should not criticise the other system. What is the guarantee that Ayurveda whatever system he is following will work? You see the type of advertisements accusing all the doctors as if they are killers or something. Huge advertisements (have been given),” CJI Ramana said.
The bench said that the Yoga Guru cannot abuse the doctors and the systems (of treatment). “It is better to restrain him.”
IMA’s counsel, advocate Amarjeet Singh, referred to several advertisements which reportedly projected the allopath and its doctors in poor light, saying that “disparaging” statements have also been made by firms, engaged in the production of ayurvedic medicines, to mislead the general public.
“These commercials say that the medical practitioners themselves are dying despite taking modern medicines. If this goes on unabated then it will cause serious prejudice to us,” Singh said.
During the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, Ramdev saying that lakhs of people have died due to the allopathic medicine had surfaced. He had also allegedly called allopathy a “stupid and bankrupt” science.
Earlier, Ramdev had also questioned the efficacy of allopathy against Covid-19, saying that vaccination alone is not enough to protect people from the virus. He said people need to be supplemented with yoga and ayurveda.
“Without the support of yoga and Ayurveda, no vaccine can immunise you permanently against coronavirus, no matter how big you are, a president or a big doctor yourself,” Ramdev said.
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Rabia Shireen is a Staff Reporter at The Cognate.
