Written By :MEGH RAJ MITTAR

Translated By : Gurchan Singh Jaito

Many people enquired from us through phone calls and letters, the opinion of Rational society about Baba Ram Dev. This is appreciable that Baba Ram Dev has put physical exercise in to practice. Many people have made it a regular habit to exercise. When I go for morning walk and exercise, it is observed that many people do breathing exercises, pressing fingers on their noses. Some keep clapping, imitating others. No one can reject the role of exercise as it keeps the body fit and healthy.

Another effort of Baba Ram Dev is also appreciable as he condemns superstitions, false notions, astrological forecast, fortune telling and multicultural corporations. Besides there are many aspects where his role is negative as well.

Till few years back Christian missionaries used to visit Indian cities. They used to create such conditions asking people to throw away their glasses, remove crutches and hearing aids etc. They claimed that whosoever has faith in Bible; they will get rid of all such ailments for all times to come. They presented so called cured persons in front of masses on stages. But whenever we Rationals analyzed their claims, they were proved wrong and false. They could never face the challenges from Rationals and avoided them. Baba Ram Dev is also a sort of preacher of Hindu religion. Those who carry label of one particular community and preach the ideology of that community, cannot be called a nationalist. Because their actions go against the secular aspects of Indian constitution. He claims that he has cured many people and presents those so-called cured people in front of media. He also preaches and claims that Yoga can cure all the ailments. It is well known that human body can suffer from ailments due to bacteria or germs. To treat these ailments it is important to take medicines. For example if a person is suffering from T.B. it is necessary for him to take medicine regularly till he gets cured completely. To discontinue the medicine for T.B. means that the medicine will not have its curing effect next time. In such a situation the disease can be fatal.

Balbir lives in my town. Once he was influenced by exercises of Baba Ram Dev. He was already suffering from heart disease. Baba’s prescribed exercise of deep breathing deteriorated his health further. After spending millions of rupees the family members could save his life at last. He goes for walks now but got rid of exercises recommended by Baba. Ram Dev will never try to present such persons in front of media.

Baba Ram Dev is in habit of propagating the effects of Yoga and Ayurveda more than they deserve. Many times he claims that he can cure Parkinson disease by evening. Some times he says that AIDS can be eliminated completely through Yoga. His claims about cancer are also same. Then he says that Yoga is the solution for all problems in the world. Can he cure the exploitation of poor by rich people? Can he stop massacres by Yoga which are created through riots? Can he get jobs through Yoga for millions who are unemployed in India? All problems can not be solved through Yoga, rather a healthy politics can.

Every human has virtues and bad deeds. Baba Ram Dev too does useless things many times. His such actions go against the human international community. Like eating meat or eggs is the personal choice of any person of any country or religion. Brahmins in kerala state cannot think of living without eating fish. It is very difficult to survive for people living in cold countries without meat and eggs. But Baba Ram Dev calls eggs as daughters of hen, hurting people who eat them.

Baba Ji could study up to 8^th standard. His knowledge in many areas is thus very limited. Any one can be less knowledgeable. But if a person with limited knowledge tries to act as know all, he becomes a laughing stock. Baba Ram Dev on 12^th November 2007 said during his speech that scientists do not know whether egg came first or hen? Leave aside scientists, today every person who is B.Sc. knows very well that eggs were there 65million years back when dinosaurs inhibited the earth. But there were no hens at that time. Hen was developed from wild ducks about ten thousand years ago. All-important changes in animate cells can be developed from first cell. The remaining cells keep developing as divisions and growth as they are photocopy of first cell. This first cell is available in egg. Thus egg came first. That is why Baba Ram Dev is not able to understand that how the man came into being from monkey. In fact animated development is a very slow process. This cannot be seen in laboratories. Out of many species of animated beings, some changes take place in one being which becomes new breed. About ten million years back one monkey underwent a specific change in certain breed of monkeys in jungles of Africa, which made that monkey as first ancestor of humans. We all are lineal descendants of man type single monkey. The proof of this phenomenon, are the fossils available down under the earth at various depths. Baba Ram Dev says that man was born from earth. Then we must bow before the earth. We can agree that earth is nourisher of us all but we were produced through human breed development. Similarly the views of Baba are unscientific about the development of sun and amoeba (very first being of single cell)

One disciple of Baba in England claimed that during one day sitting he lost 5 pounds weight. One scientist Subodh Gupta rejected the claim of Baba. Losing 5 pounds fat means 5x3500=17500 calories must be produced, which is impossible. Only up to 250 calories can be reduced in one sitting. That means one time sitting can reduce about 35 gms. fat only. Through perspiration water can be reduced up to one or two Kgs.Baba’s business is flourishing. Millions are collected through sale of costly books, medicines and organized camps, which has made Baba a billionaire. That is why Baba has become an angel for middle class. Poor have no capacity to buy his medicines and books. The workers have to resort to strikes in his factories producing medicines, because of very low wages paid to them. Member of CPI (M) Ms. Barinda Karat when went to help these workers, she was informed that the medicines produced in those factories were mixed with human and animal bones after crushing them. Though Baba Ram Dev does not accept this charge but in Ayurveda there is no ban on these processes. Bone ash is also a medicine for them. The pertinent question arises here, that in case of illness which therapy one must adopt for treatment? I feel that one must adopt only that therapy which can satisfy one’s doubts. That is what ailment one is suffering from, why and how that came in contact? In how much time the particular medicine will cure and how will it cure? In Ayurveda there are no satisfactory answers available for these doubts. Instead Allopathy does have satisfactory explanations. In Ayurveda processes the ashes of many heavy metals are used which are poisonous. For example lead, mercury, arsenic etc. During rainy seasons the quantum of water is more in herbs and lesser during summer. Similarly in Ayurveda process the quantum of medicine keeps reducing or increasing. In Allopathic processes, millions of scientists are doing research round the clock. Side effects of any medicine are made public from time to time. But in Ayurveda this does not happen or otherwise it is very rarely made public. Many medicines of Ayurveda according to Allopathy are steroids, which must be resorted to when there are no alternatives left. Allopathy is such a therapy, which has uprooted many diseases from this world. About 60 years back any one suffering from T.B. had no chances of survival but today many patients do survive. Similarly plague, smallpox have been eradicated from the world. Polio will also be eradicated and in coming 20-30 years hundreds of ailments would be eliminated for good. Though Ayurveda comes from old scriptures/Granths, then why Ayurveda could not get rid of any of ailments so far?

Baba Ram Dev does not approve of sex education in schools. To contain dreadful ailments like AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases it is very important to educate children in schools. Baba Ram Dev wears a cloak like a sadhu. The reason of this is clear that the people of this country carry lot of devotion and respect for Sadhus and saints. But in Punjab right from 1984 till today my activities prove that saffron clads are anti people. Why Baba keeps beard and hair, there is reason behind that in certain age he suffered from Bells Palsy, which paralyze one side of the face. The symptoms are that one of the eyes of Baba keeps twitching and the other does not. This symptom could have been more prominent had he not been keeping beard and moustaches. Why Baba could not eradicate this ailment through Yoga so far? Humans have two holes in the nose, but within two inches they convert to one pipe. It is surprising that why Baba insists that one must inhale from one nostril and exhale from another? How does this benefit?

In the end I wish to suggest to all rational thinking people, that exercises prescribed by Baba can only benefit those who do not carry out any other exercises. Otherwise too, physical exercises in schools and army, which are performed under the guidance of Drill Masters, are scientifically much better than Baba’s exercises. While selecting the exercises one must keep age, mental and physical health in mind. If some one starts running in old age then it is possible that there can be bone fracture and gets bed ridden for good.