Baba Ramdev: The yoga master under criticism for Patanjali's "natural remedies"

Baba Ramdev: The yoga master under criticism for Patanjali's "natural remedies"

Baba Ramdev is a well-known Indian yoga teacher with millions of followers worldwide. His reputation has now suffered as a result of an order from India's highest court to retract his deceptive statement that the goods his firm sells can "cure" severe ailments. How then did the man's narrative come to an end?

In an instance on his YouTube channel, Swami Ramdev, which has more than 10 million followers, the yoga master reclines on his back on the platform, assuming the yoga posture known as "pawanmuktasan," which is said to alleviate dyspepsia.

Adjacent to him is a pile of pharmaceuticals manufactured by Patanjali Ayurved, a company that markets itself as a supplier of "herbomineral preparations".

Established in 2006 by Baba Ramdev and his close associate Acharya Balkrishna, Patanjali offers a wide range of goods, including skincare and wellness items and toothpaste. However, among its most sought-after items are the Ayurvedic medications.

He enumerates many health concerns, ranging from skin disorders and liver damage to typhoid fever and fever, and chastises his listeners for treating these ailments with "poisonous, synthetic" drugs. Instead, he exhorts people to utilize Patanjali goods.

He defines cancer in a different video and argues that treatment options such as radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery do not deal with the underlying cause of the illness.

Then he makes the astounding assertion that Patanjali's "anti-cancer juice" may "cure all types of cancer in seven days to two months" when taken in conjunction with a rigorous diet.

His crowds erupt in cheers.

However, India's Supreme Court prohibited the advertisements last week, claiming that the yoga master was deceiving customers and disseminating false information.

It is against the law to advertise pharmaceuticals as a means of curing or treating 54 illnesses, such as high blood pressure, cancer, and heart disease, according to the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act 54.

The courts said that Baba Ramdev and Mr. Balkrishna had "wilfully disobeyed" their ruling, and they would not accept their "unconditional apology". "You [should] suffer consequences," the court said, adding that "your apology is not worth the paper it's written on."

The justices also chastised the government of Uttarakhand, the Himalayan state where Patanjali's headquarters is situated, and the State Licensing Authority, which oversees Ayurvedic medications and other traditional medical techniques, for failing to prosecute Patanjali for breaking the law.

They threatened to "rip you apart" and chastised the authorities for continuing to live in a "deep slumber" and "pass the buck."

Before the next hearing on April 23, the court ordered Patanjali and its founders to make a public apology.

However, experts argue that the court's censure comes too little, too late.

They point out that Patanjali and Baba Ramdev have a long history of promoting the healing properties of their goods while disparaging allopathic medications and accepted medical techniques as ineffectual. The BBC has contacted Patanjali in an attempt to get an answer about this claim.

Patanjali introduced Coronil, a herbal pill, during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, claiming it could "treat and cure" the coronavirus.

The Indian government intervened, saying there was insufficient evidence to support the product's efficacy as a therapy, forcing the marketing to cease. Still, the business said that it was effective against the infection.

Not only have their pharmaceuticals come under fire, but Patanjali's food products have also drawn criticism for being of poor quality.

When a food safety test on Patanjali's "pure cow ghee" (clarified butter) was conducted in 2022, Baba Ramdev disregarded the results, claiming that the samples had been tampered with. The company received legal notice in 2023 for allegedly utilizing cuttlefish in a vegetarian-marked dental product.

As a simple Google search will demonstrate, Patanjali has been involved in so many scandals over the course of a decade that it is difficult to keep track of them all.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) filed a lawsuit in 2022 in response to a "false" advertising that said the company's goods could treat diabetes, thyroid conditions, and even macular degeneration. This sparked the most recent legal action against the company.

The court directed them to cease making these kinds of claims last year and threatened to penalize each product with 10 million rupees ($119,600; £96,000).

After a day, Baba Ramdev reiterated his belief in the "curative" properties of Ayurvedic medicines and threatened to "face the death penalty" if his statements proved to be untrue. The attorneys for the company consented to comply with the order.

He said some physicians were disseminating misleading information about his brand and were prejudiced against conventional care.

Newspapers, radio, television, and Baba Ramdev's yoga seminars throughout many states were all venues where Patanjali carried on running its contentious advertisements.

When the Supreme Court received an anonymous letter in January pointing out the company's disobedience of the court's decision, the issue gained renewed attention.

Experts claim that Patanjali's goods are questionable due to subpar manufacturing procedures used by the company.

However, the company has vehemently defended its offerings, claiming that they adhere to "more than 3,000 research protocols" and have clinical backing.

A Haridwar court ordered Patanjali to pay a punishment of one million rupees in 2016 for selling several items under its name even though they were manufactured by a different firm.

In addition, the court ordered district authorities to take legal action against the brand in the event that it did not raise the caliber of its goods after the failure of quality tests on several necessities, including salt, jam, oil, and honey.

At that time, Mr. Balkrishna told the Times of India that Patanjali was a "suitably" responding brand, and that its goods were "completely safe" and of "unquestionable" quality.

However, the company has managed to avoid regulatory punishment in spite of the grave accusations.

Experts surmise that this is because Baba Ramdev is still very well-liked. His devotees shield Patanjali from criticism by seeing him as an authority on all things natural and customary.

Additionally, it is said that the 58-year-old is well-connected to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The yoga teacher publicly urged his followers to vote for the BJP in the 2014 general election, and he often praises Mr. Modi.

According to a 2017 Reuters news agency investigation, Patanjali was able to purchase thousands of acres of land in BJP-ruled states at a reduced cost in order to establish factories and research facilities, and Baba Ramdev's company has flourished since the BJP came to power.

The BBC has contacted Patanjali and the BJP, but has not heard back as of yet.