Jaipur/Patna: Troubles seem to be mounting for Baba Ramdev (pictured) for his remarks on Dalits and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with the yoga guru being booked in Rajasthan and a court case filed against him in Bihar.
Ramdev’s comment on Rahul Gandhi visiting Dalit homes for his “honeymoon” has sparked outrage. He apologised Saturday and said he was misinterpreted.
In Jaipur, a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against him. “Some people showing newspaper cuttings, lodged a complaint against Ramdev on Sunday in Jyoti Nagar police station here. They said that their sentiments have been hurt by Ramdev’s remarks and demanded action against him,” a police officer told IANS in Jaipur yesterday.
Earlier, people belonging to the Dalit community protested against the yoga guru in the Rajasthan capital. Some of the angry protesters tarred a poster of Ramdev, shouting slogans against him and demanding his immediate arrest for insulting the community.
Ramdev said in Lucknow on Friday: “He (Rahul Gandhi) goes to Dalits’ houses for honeymoon and picnic. Had he married a Dalit girl, his luck could have clicked and he would have become the prime minister.”
In Bihar, a minister yesterday filed a case against the yoga guru.
“I have filed a case in the court against Ramdev for insulting and humiliating Dalits,” Food and Civil Supply Minister Shyam Razak told reporters in Patna.
He said he has demanded jail term for the yoga guru.
“The right place for Ramdev is in jail. He has hurt the Dalits by saying that Rahul Gandhi goes to Dalits’ houses to celebrate honeymoon,” the minister said.
The Janata Dal-United leader demanded the central government should lodge a case against Ramdev under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The Congress has accused Ramdev of insulting Dalits and women.
Court says no yoga camps
Meanwhile, the Himachal Pradesh High Court yesterday rejected a plea of yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s Swabhiman Trust to permit it to hold “yog shivirs” (yoga camps) in Kangra and Chamba towns. A division bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice D C Chaudhary said the orders passed by the Karnataka High Court and the Gujarat High Court were of no help to the petitioner as these were passed prior to registration of a first information report (FIR) against Ramdev.
The petitioner trust contended that the respondents violated its right to hold camps on the pretext of guidelines issued by the Election Commission.
The court, however, observed that no prima facie case was made to stay the orders of the Election Commission.
The plea contended that the model code of conduct has no legal validity and Ramdev was not a political person.
It contended that the model code was applicable to political people only. Advocate General Sharvan Dogra contended that the only motive to organise a yoga camp was to convince the followers of a particular party. IANS
