Some people have commented that Baba should have stuck to yoga. Why jump into politics? Now, I am quite surprised that while people raise fingers when Baba joins politics, nobody does so when a filmstar jumps into the field. Congressmen who find the idea abhorrent do not find it strange that Rajiv Gandhi became the prime minister of India without any political experience. Should a person be eligible to join politics only when 'chooses the stream' as a 20 year old? At least our Constitution does not feel so. Would you have said the same if Narayan Murthy had joined politics?
Another set says that Baba has an empire worth more than Rs 1,100 crore. Well, so what? So has Naveen Jindal. Does it take away his right to protest? You want to enquire further into his assets. Why not start with Maran who has declared assets of less than Rs 2 crore, Subodh Sahai of Rs 1.4 lakhs (Minister of Tourism) and Anand Sharma (Minister of Commerce) at Rs 27,000? (Yes, this is not a typo). Who is more likely to have stashed black money under his carpet?
What is the problem if Baba is rich? He took an indigenous body of knowledge, marketed it well, people benefited from the products and bought more, and the entire process added to the GDP. There is nothing wrong with that as long as he remained on the windy side of the law. We seem to be okay with politicians siphoning away the nation's wealth, but not with a person who makes it to the top by giving a fair bargain to the people.
There is also a large body of journalists who claim that Ramdev is backed by RSS/BJP. Let us say he is. Is RSS a banned organisation? Admittedly, some of its views are archaic. But does that bar it from raising its voice against any misconduct and atrocity of the Government? Was Baba discussing religion on the stage? Has he ever talked about religion in his speeches about black money? Then how does it matter? BJP itself has admitted that the rise of Hazare and Baba demonstrates its failure to act as an effective opposition party. If protest is an unreasonable method of fighting against corruption, then why did not the papers find Hazare's campaign unconstitutional?
Now, even an opponent of Ramdev would not belittle his contribution, that of bringing yoga to the masses, which was previously restricted to a few people who served yoga as an enhancement to aerobic classes. You can probably judge that by a quick survey - begin that by asking how many people used to do 'kapaalbhati' pranayam before Baba came into the picture, although the pranayam comes from our own backyard. That way, he might have done greater social service that half of the MPs who are sitting in the Parliament. Even if he is spearheading the campaign for his political gains, why take a one-sided view?
What is the problem if Baba is rich? He took an indigenous body of knowledge, marketed it well, people benefited from the products and bought more, and the entire process added to the GDP. There is nothing wrong with that as long as he remained on the windy side of the law. We seem to be okay with politicians siphoning away the nation's wealth, but not with a person who makes it to the top by giving a fair bargain to the people.
There is also a large body of journalists who claim that Ramdev is backed by RSS/BJP. Let us say he is. Is RSS a banned organisation? Admittedly, some of its views are archaic. But does that bar it from raising its voice against any misconduct and atrocity of the Government? Was Baba discussing religion on the stage? Has he ever talked about religion in his speeches about black money? Then how does it matter? BJP itself has admitted that the rise of Hazare and Baba demonstrates its failure to act as an effective opposition party. If protest is an unreasonable method of fighting against corruption, then why did not the papers find Hazare's campaign unconstitutional?
Now, even an opponent of Ramdev would not belittle his contribution, that of bringing yoga to the masses, which was previously restricted to a few people who served yoga as an enhancement to aerobic classes. You can probably judge that by a quick survey - begin that by asking how many people used to do 'kapaalbhati' pranayam before Baba came into the picture, although the pranayam comes from our own backyard. That way, he might have done greater social service that half of the MPs who are sitting in the Parliament. Even if he is spearheading the campaign for his political gains, why take a one-sided view?
