Name	Ramdev
Birth date	January 11, 1971
Birth place	Village: Ali Saiyad Pur (Alipur), Distt: Mahendragarh, Haryana, India
Birth name	Ram Krishn
Current place	Haridwar,Uttar Pradesh,nowUttarakhand
Guru	Acharya Pradumn
Footnotes	}}

Swami Ramdev (), born as Ram Krishn on 11 January 1971, in India is popularly known as Baba Ramdev who has gained worldwide fame through the teachings of Yoga and Ayurved. More or less his movement against curruption has also gained momentum throughout India within few months.

Early life

He was born as Ram Krishn to Gulab Devi and Ram Nivas in the village Saiyad AliPur (Alipur) of Mahendragarh district in Haryana state of India. According to the affidavit filed by him to the Passport Office his date of birth is 11 January 1971. He was inspired by the portraits of Ram Prasad Bismil and Subhas Chandra Bose that were hung in his room. According to his statements in an open Yog Shivir at Shahjahanpur,Uttar Pradesh when he grew up and read the autobiography of Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil, his mind was totally cleansed. After completing his middle education of eighth standard from ''Shahbajpur'' Haryana, he joined Aarsh (Arya) Gurukul, Khanpur and studied Sanskrit and Yoga under the guidance of Acharya Pradumn.

After he received teachings from Acharya Baldevji, he renounced worldly life, entering into ''Sanyas'' and changed his name from Ram Krishn to Ramdev. (''Note'': The Hindi word ''swami'' means master of conscience).

In Kalva Gurukul of Jind district in Haryana India he offered free training of Yog to villagers for some time. Then he moved to Haridwar,Uttar Pradesh and spent several years studying ancient Indian scriptures at Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya. This included a rare book of Aurobindo Ghosh, ''Yogik Sadhan'', translated from Bangla into Hindi by Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil. After reading this small booklet he went to the caves of Himalaya and practiced intense self-discipline and meditation. According to Sanjay Upadhyaya's book "Ramdev - Myth and Reality", Ramdev fell seriously ill in his childhood and through his recovery discovered his techniques of yoga and meditation.

Contemporary life and family

He shot into prominence when he started the Divya Yog Mandir Trust with the company of Acharya Bal Krishna. In 2003, Aastha TV began featuring him in its morning yoga slot. Within a few years, he had gathered a huge following. He is known for his efforts of popularizing ''yoga''. The New York Times called him "an Indian, who built Yoga Empire, a product and symbol of the New India, a yogic fusion of Richard Simmons, Dr. Oz and Oprah Winfrey, irrepressible and bursting with Vedic wisdom". His yog-camps are attended by a large number of people in India and abroad.

Institutions founded

His flagship project is Patanjali Yog Peeth (a registered Trust which was inaugurated on August 6, 2006 by Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, then Vice President of India). The primary aim of this institution is to build India the world's largest centre for ''Ayurved'' and ''Yoga'' with the facilities of treatment, research and training.

At present the trust offers treatment to those who cannot afford to pay and for the rest, it is provided at a reasonable cost. Various institutions and medical organizations are also run by the Patanjali Yoga Peeth Trust to study and improve the effectiveness of ''yoga'' against diseases like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, etc. Recently the second phase of Patanjali Yoga Peeth has also started its working. Patanjali Ayurved College, Patanjali Chikitsalaya, Yog Gram, Go-Shala, Patanjali Herbal Botanical Garden, Organic Agriculture Farm, Patanjali Food And Herbal Park Ltd are some of its affiliated institutions which are run under the guidance of Swami Ramdev and his close associate Acharya Bal Krishn. Some useful books are also published by its sister concern Divy Prakashan.

''Yog Sandesh'' is the authorised journal Patanjali Yoga Peeth which is being published in 11 languages viz. Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, Nepali, Kannada and Telugu. Monthly readership of this multi-lingual journal is more than one million.

Patanjali Yog Peeth has acquired a Scottish Island for about £2 million which was donated by Mr.Sam and Mrs.Sunita Poddar, originally from India and living in Scotland for 25 years, have been running the UK branch of the Patanjali Yoga Peeth Trust. The Little Cumbrae Island, off the fishing town of Largs in Scotland, will also serve as the Patanjali Yog Peeth's base overseas, where ''yoga'' will be taught. This project will be run by Patanjali Yogpeeth (UK) Trust. They have plans to set up a wellness retreat there.

Political and social campaigns

Ramdev has clarified that he has no political ambitions and is not interested in starting a political party, but feels it's his obligatory duty to reform social and political ambiguities apart from popularising yoga and thus strengthen the country.

He has raised a number of political, social and economic issues through his yoga camps (in Hindi ''Yog Shivir''). Most of the issues raised by him demand a drastic change in the governance policies of India.

Bharat Swabhiman

For changing governance policies, he has initiated a movement named ''Bharat Swabhiman'' along with Rajiv Dixit.

The five goals of ''Bharat Swabhiman'' campaign are: # 100% voting # 100% nationalist thought, # 100% boycott of foreign companies and adoption of ''swadeshi'', # 100% unification of the people of the nation and # 100% yoga-oriented nation.

As a part of campaign, Baba Ramdev has been organising yoga camps across India to create awareness amongst people against corruption and black money.

On agriculture and dietary practices

In many ''yog shivira'' (yoga camps), he has raised the issue of increased consumption of fast foods, packed foods and soft drinks by the people. According to him these products can cause diseases and so they must not be eaten. He has also claimed that commercially available aerated drinks are harmful to due to the presence of phosphoric acids, preservatives, unknown chemicals and emulsifiers. He claims that these drinks are very harmful to the entire body and especially the stomach lining if consumed. He has also made statements along the lines of "Cold Drinks means Toilet Cleaner" and has claimed that these cold drinks are more effective at cleaning toilets than commercially available toilet cleaners. He urges people in his public meetings to pledge not to consume commercial aerated drinks, to protect individual health as well as to avoid Indian wealth being transferred to multinational companies. Instead he advices the public to consume hot water, milk or traditional Indian juices only so that India may become prosperous.

He has also claimed that the use of fertilizers and pesticides has led to an undue economic load on farmers and increased the profits of large business houses involved in the business. He also claims that these practices are harmful to the general public, since the farming produce is contaminated with inorganic fertilizers and pesticides. Due to this practice, the farming land is also becoming barren. He also blames corrupt practices for the miserable conditions of the poor farmers and other backward class of the society. He says that although agriculture is the biggest area which can contribute enough to India's economy yet it's farmers are the most poverty stricken class of the country. He says if villages improve then there will be a completely different India

Illegal mining

According to Baba Ramdev, there is permission for only 200 mining leases but about one lakh illegal mines are operational in the country. Baba Ramdev argues that illegal mining is the biggest source of black money and that corrupt people are eying the natural resources of the country, which are present in abundant amount. Natural resources include gold, copper, coal, iron, oil and other natural resources. Plunder of natural resources is the most devastating form of national crime, according to Ramdev, yet it is the least reported.

According to conservative estimates India has natural resources worth around 10,000 lakh crore. ''Das Hajar Lakh Crore'' is the exact phrase used by Baba Ramdev to quote the figure at his gatherings. Baba Ramdev says that the natural resources of the country must be protected otherwise corrupt people would sell every bit of it and stash the money in tax havens. Contrary to the popular belief of tax evasion being the source of black money, Baba Ramdev points out that the nation's wealth is being plundered from the natural resources and that has resulted into the huge stockpile of black money in various tax havens.

Protests against black money

Baba Ramdev was the first to raise the issue of black money publicly in 2008, before the assembly elections of 2009. Estimations indicate a total of Rs. 400 lakh crore, or nearly 9 trillion USD, of Indian black money outside the country. This is so much money that every Indian constituency could get up to 50 thousand crore for development. The money has been pulled outside the country via physical and technical means, with hawala, under/over invoicing being some common methods. Money laundering started on a large scale since 1990.

In April 2011 Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, confirmed that there are Indian names on Swiss bank accounts. Switzerland is not the only tax havens where Indian black money is stashed. Other tax havens include Dubai, Liechtenstein, Italy, and others. Switzerland made an official statement that, if the Indian government approaches them, they are willing to declare the names of Indian account holders. However, no such approach has been made by Indian government. Baba Ramdev has said that most of the money belongs to the ministers, government officials and bureaucrats.

Apart from this, there is an estimated Rs. 100–150 lakh crore of black money in India's internal economy. India's total GDP is in the range of 60 lakh crore and economists suggest that at least twice of this amount is circulating in black, which is roughly between 100 and 150 lakh crore. Ramdev has suggested many measures to curb the amount of black money circulating inside the internal economy. Baba Ramdev pointed out that total currency note circulation in India is 10 lakh crore. If the GDP is 60 lakh crore, then currency note circulation should be 1/50 of that amount, which is only 2 lakh crore. A basic economy concept states that a currency note can travel 50 to 100 transaction points over a year. Hence if RBI has circulated 10 lakh crore of currency then the total Indian economy should be at least 50 × 10 lakh crore = 500 lakh crore. This clearly indicates that there is huge amount of black money circulating inside the internal economy and an equally high amount of unaccounted wealth is being siphoned out of the country every year by corrupt ministers and bureaucrats.

Swami Ramdev has been associated with the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement and was involved in the Jan Lokpal agitation

In February 2011, he gave the following steps for eradication of black money:

# Declare all Indian wealth lying outside the country illegally as national wealth. # Agree to and accept the U.N. Convention against Corruption – pending since 2006. # Access, monitor and disrupt payment gateway servers enabling corrupt people to manage money in tax havens. # Scrutinizing accounts of people having credit/debit cards of foreign banks without any foreign work/relation. # Disabling operations of any bank from a tax haven country. # Withdrawal and demonetizing of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes – so as to avoid misuse of unaccounted money and quick arrest of the entire locally circulated black money, bribing, and fake note traffic. # Death penalty provision for the corrupt persons in Indian Penal Code.

Many countries like USA, Germany and other smaller African countries have adopted similar steps to get back their black money. However in India the government calls Ramdev's idea as impractical. The practicality of such steps has been called into question.

He has raised the issue of Indian money stashed away illegally in Swiss banks, which is estimated to be anywhere between 1 and 1.5 trillion USD. He says that the government must take immediate action and bring back the money as it belongs to the people of India. Not only this, he openly charges that this black money has been taken out of the country illegally and also very strongly demands a capital punishment to all those Indians or non-resident Indians, who acquire, handle and stash black money. He suggests that Mauritius route is a tax haven for black money operators in India and this route should be cut effectively by the Indian government. He had also demanded (as early as September 2009) the removal of currency of denominations of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000, saying that this would curb corruption, black money and terrorism.

Anticorruption rally on 27 February 2011 at Ramlila Maidan

On 27 February 2011 Baba Ramdev held a large rally of over 1 lakh people at the Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi to protest against corruption. Those present at the rally included Baba Ramdev, Acharya Balkrishna, Ram Jethmalani, Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Swami Agnivesh and many others. All members spoke and explained how corruption was rampant in the country and how the government itself was indulging in it. The most highlighted topic was Indian black money lying in tax havens of Switzerland.

Arvind Kejriwal mentioned that Anna Hazare would hold a fast in April 2011 to put pressure on the government to enact the JanLokPal Bill.

It is a noticeable fact that no major news channel covered this event.

Bhrashtachar Mitao Satyagrah 4 June 2011 at Ramlila Maidan

Preface

Baba Ramdev launched the Bhrashtachar Mitao Satyagrah which was held at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi on 4 June 2011. Key demands were:

# Declare all illegal wealth/black money lying in foreign countries, which belong to Indians as National Property. # Declaring money laundering as a National Crime and should be punishable. # Investigate and shut down the Mauritius route of foreign investment. # Sign and ratify the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, pending since 2006 # Recall Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 notes to curb corruption, bribery and illegal flow of money in the internal economy of the country. # Enact a strong Lokpal bill. # Establish infrastructure to deliver medical and engineering education in Indian Languages. # Enact Public Service Delivery Guarantee Act to enable all citizens to avail government/public services easily and quickly # Enact the Kisan Vetan Ayog to establish standards for payment of wages to farmers and classify farming as skilled labour.

Protest at Delhi

Baba Ramdev declared to go on an ''Anshan'' (indefinite fast) on June 4, 2011 at Ramlila Ground Delhi to pressure the Central Government to root out corruption from India and bring back the black money stashed away in various financial institutions abroad. After this declaration the government was said to have set up a panel to suggest steps to curb black money and its transfer abroad, in an apparent bid to placate Ramdev.

When Ramdev arrived at Delhi airport on June 1, four senior ministers of the UPA government met him on the airport and tried to persuade him by telling of the government's initiative on corruption. On 4 June morning 65,000 followers of the yoga teacher had gathered at Ramlila Ground By noon queues extending up to 3 km from the entry point of Ramlila Grounds and were seen chanting 'Vande Mataram'. In the evening a press conference was organised by Kapil Sibbal made public a letter from Ramdev's camp to call off their agitation. Ramdev took it as a betrayal of the Government and hardened the position by declaring not to take back his Satyagrah until a proper government ordinance is announced in place of forming a committee.

Satyagrah was going on even in the night of 4 June 2011. Sources informed Baba Ramdev that a huge police force can try to clear Ramlila Ground and if it is not done they can also kill him in a fake encounter or set fire in the tents. At midnight, a huge team of Delhi Police comprising of 10000 policemen and RAF raided the ground when most of the Satyagrahis were sleeping on the and Ramdev was also sleeping on the dias along with his core group. A large police force lobbed tear gas shells and lathicharged to evict the crowd from 1a.m. to 4 a.m. The tent was set on fire at many places. Cold water was thrown over power generators to create complete darkness to prevent any video recording of the whole attack. However most media persons recorded what was going on.

Police had arranged buses to drop supporters at railway stations and bus stands in advance; had ammunition ready and all the policemen were in battle-gear wearing vests and helmets and kept some ambulances on standby. Ramdev was arrested while attempting to disguise himself in women's clothing.

Delhi Police forcefully detained Ramdev at Safdargunj Airport in complete isolation for a few hours and then deported him to his Ashram in Haridwar via helicopter. Police fired tear gas, lathcharged people who were reportedly peacefully fasting. 53 persons were injured and treated at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital, AIIMS trauma center, and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. Government stopped media person or anybody to enter the hospital to check the injured. Protesters huddled near the Metro station, bus depots and railway stations. Many walked down to Gurdwara Bangla Sahib and other nearby Ashrams. According to New Delhi railway station authorities, supporters continued to leave in batches through the course of the day. While several supporters spent the day in a park near Ramlila Maidan, others took shelter in Arya Samaj at Paharganj.

Baba Ramdev was taken by police out side Delhi and was banned from entering Delhi for 15 days. After being banned from entering Delhi for the next 15 days, Union Home Secretary G. K. Plillai said the Baba was on his way to his Ashram at Haridwar under police custody. On reaching Haridwar, Swami Ramdev declared in a press conference that his fast unto death will continue.

About 5,000 supporters were still missing according to Baba Ramdev. Dr. Jaideep Arya, a key advisor of Ramdev’s team, said that about 19 girls students from the Chotipur Gurukul, who were seated near the dais, are estimated to be still missing. Suman, women’s representative of the Trust, said many of these girls were roughed up when the police tried to reach Swamiji and were crying since police officials were pulling their hair, dragging them badly and their clothes were torn. Police, however, said no one was missing. A senior police officer reported that they were forced to retaliate after Baba Ramdev's supporters started throwing stones and flower pots at them. Police also released CCTV footage to prove that no woman was beaten by them. TV channels were telecasting the footage of the scene in Ramlia Ground.

Aftermath of the Delhi protest and fast unto death

Ramdev accused the government of cheating him, and alleged that there was a conspiracy to kill him and that he was threatened during a meeting with senior ministers. All political parties other than the Congress Party condemned the police action, called it ''undemocratic'' and naked fascism, deplorable and shortsighted. It was even compared it with the Emergency and the Jalianwala. Apart from politicians, he was also supported by civil societies as well. A senior poet laureate Dr Madan Lal Verma 'Krant' wrote an article on his blog KRANT and said that the action of the government was more shameful than the Jalianwala of British period. He argued that the British Government had ordered firing in the day whereas Indian Government took such a brutal action after midnight when all of the protesting persons (hi.satyagrahi) were sleeping. Activist Anna Hazare termed the crackdown of the agitation a ''strangulation of democracy''. He said: "There was no firing otherwise the eviction was similar to Jallianwala Bagh massacre". He boycotted his lokpal panel meeting with the government on 6 June and decided to go on a one day fast on 8 June. His allies RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal, former Law MinisterShanti Bhushan, and Swami Agnivesh also criticised the police action to evict the hunger strikers forcefully Protests were held in many different parts of the country. Protest were held in Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jammu and Lucknow as well as among other several cities of India.

Soon after this, a vacation bench of the Supreme Court of India comprising justice B. S. Chauhan and justice Swatantra Kumar issued notices to the Union Home Secretary, Chief Secretary of Delhi, Delhi Administration, and Delhi Police Commissioner asking them to respond within two weeks, after taking suo motu cognizance of forceful eviction of yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his followers from the Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi. The National Human Rights Commission also issued notices on June 6, 2011 to the Government of India and Delhi State Government seeking reports within two weeks on the midnight crackdown on Baba Ramdev’s supporters at Ramlila ground. After being evicted from Delhi, Baba Ramdev wanted to continue his fast from Noida but was denied permission by the Uttar Pradesh government.Many pepole like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also forced him to end his fast. Ultimately, he decided to continue his idefinite fast satyagraha at Haridwar only from 4 June 2011 onwards. After repeated attempts to end his fast Baba Ramdev's health worsened and was taken to the Himalaya Institute of Medical Sciences on the seventh day of his fast.

End of hunger strike

Baba Ramdev ended his fast on the ninth day by drinking a glass of juice at Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun, where he was recuperating from the seventh day of his fast. After repeated request from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and various other saints he ended his fast. Political reactions came in from all major parties expressing their happiness about ending the fast. BJP Spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said they have a "sense of satisfaction" that the fast has ended. Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy said that the fast was "successful" and termed the government as "monstrous". While the ruling party Congress spokesperson Janardan Dwivedi gave a reaction by saying it as "good".

Anti-Ramdev campaign by Congress

Hours after 4 June, the Congress-led UPA government started a massive campaign against Baba Ramdev, Acharya Balkrishna and Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust. Multiple allegations were raised against Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna.

Some of them being:

# Baba Ramdev is involved in tax evasion. # Acharya Balkrishna is a Nepali staying illegally in India. # Baba Ramdev exports products that are banned in USA. # Acharya Balkrishna has a fake Indian passport. # Donations received by Baba Ramdev consist of black money.

Congress party launched a booklet to criticise and ''expose'' Ramdev during its election campaign in Uttar Pradesh for the 2012 elections.

However as investigations were carried out by various agencies at both state and centre level, eventually nothing was found wrong with either Baba Ramdev or Acharya Balkrishna. Acharya Balkrishna was cleared of fake passport charges. When the government failed to find anything wrong with Balkrishna's passport, new allegations were raised that Balkrishna has 2 birth certificates which is illegal. No such thing was found in investigations and this allegation also fell silent

It is rumoured that Congress contacted USFDA to ban and investigate various products sold by Baba Ramdev in the USA and soon news of investigation came to light.

Baba Ramdev in his press conference at Delhi later declared that all these allegations are nothing but an active attempt by government to divert the attention of the public and media from the core issues of corruption and black money. If even a single penny of black money is found with him, he is willing to declare it as national property, said Ramdev.

Controversies and criticisms

Alleged involvements in activities prohibited for non-profit in USA

Ramdev and his non-profit firms are alleged to involve in activities prohibited for non-profit tax-exempt organisations in USA.

Alleged link with RSS and BJP

Ramdev is alleged to have been supposedly linked by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) by many politicians. Lalu Yadav said in a press conference- "Sadhvi Ritambhara was the first one to share the stage (with Ramdev at ramlila protest). She was the one who was responsible for the Babri Masjid demolition". Digvijay Singh,Congress general secretary alleged that all the five-star arrangements at Ramlila ground protests were done by right activist group RSS and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said-"Some people with vested interest are hijacking and remote controlling the protest by RSS and BJP". He also alleged that nation wide protest by Ramdev is being financed by RSS.

Initially RSS leader Ram Madhav made distance on this issue. But later on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said- "The RSS was not behind the stir launched by Ramdev seeking repatriation of the black money stashed illegally in foreign banks but have extended all support to it (agitation)." He added- "RSS cannot remain a mute spectator to the social revolution taking place against corruption and black money. Therefore, it has asked its cadres to join the agitation"

Exemplar yog empire

Baba Ramdev is allegedly called as business tycoon, has built a global yog empire that stretches from India to a remote island in Scotland, with declared revenues since 1995 of 11 billion rupees ($220 million). "I've become so powerful, I can uproot a government. I don't have financial or legal power, but in a democracy I have the power of the people," he declared in an interview with Indian magazine Tehelka last year. Though there were discussions in public domain that various media and political parties are questioning his credibility and raising allegations, making Ramdev a fun object, calling him a thug, instead of debating about the issues raised by him.

Labour law violations and animal parts in medicines

In March 2005, 113 employees of Divya Yoga Mandir Trust, Haridwar started an agitation for minimum wages and employees's rights such as coverage under the Provident Fund and Employees' State Insurance schemes. After a tripartite meeting, an agreement was reached between the workers, management and the district administration. However, some agitating workers were dismissed by the Trustees after being alleged to be responsible for sabotage. Their case was taken up by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist). They are still to be reinstated.

Brinda Karat, a senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was involved with the protesters and was told by disgruntled workers that animal parts were used in the manufacture of some medicines. In January 2006, she accused the ''Divya Pharmacy'', owned by Divya Yog Mandir Trust for using human and animal bones in their medicines. Samples of the medicines ''Kulya Bhasm (Mixture)'' and ''Yauvanamrit Vati'' purchased from Brahmakalp Chikitsalaya- the Trust's Hospital at Haridwar were allegedly tested at government labs and the presence of animal materials in the sample was confirmed. However, the source of the samples was disputed, as these had been supplied by Karat to the labs and not procured by government officials. Karat produced what were claimed to be the prescription and cash receipt obtained from the medicine counter for the samples provided.

Her controversial remarks drew strong condemnation from several politicians in North India, like Sharad Pawar, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Narayan Dutt Tiwari. Subsequently she received a legal notice on the behalf of a BJP leader in Faridabad.

A few months later in 2006, four samples were sent to the government recognized Shriram Institute of Industrial Research in Delhi. Negating the report from this institute the Union Health Ministry said to have found animal DNA in the samples, although most of the newspapers carried reports to the contrary.

Views on AIDS and sex education

In December 2006, Swami Ramdev claimed to cure diseases such as AIDS and cancer through yoga and ayurvedic drugs sold by his Divya Yoga Mandir Trust. He also went on to suggest that sex education should be replaced by yoga, as his way to AIDS awareness, prevention and a cure. "Sex education in schools need [sic] to be replaced by yoga education," Ramdev told reporters at the state health minister's residence. As a consequence of these public statements he was sent a cease and desist order by the Indian Union Health Ministry to avoid making such claims in the future, and the civil society threatened legal action. In response, Ramdev retracted his statement and said the claims were not directly his, but those of patients who practiced yoga.

Claims of curing cancer

Other press reports quoted him as claiming to have a cure for cancer of the breast, liver, prostate, uterus, pituitary gland, and brain, as well as leukemia, by practicing breathing exercises. In a residential camp held in ''Yog Gram'', Haridwar during 19–25 June 2008, several cancer patients stepped forward to recount first-hand stories of their successful bouts with prostate and breast cancer and leukemia using ''Pranayam'', or breathing exercises. Swami Ramdev has claimed to have documented proof of his successes, but has failed to provide any to the media or the Health Ministry.

Views on homosexuality

In July 2009, when Delhi High Court gave a verdict under decriminalizing homosexuality in Delhi, the swami called a press conference and said, "This verdict of the court will encourage criminality and sick mentality. This kind of thing is shameful and insulting to all of us. We are blindly following the West in everything. This is breaking the family system in India. Homosexuals are sick people, they should be sent to hospitals for treatment. If the government brings this law, I will take this matter to the streets of Delhi in protest."

Awards and recognitions

January 2007 – Honorary Doctorate, by Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar, in recognition of his efforts to popularize the Vedic system/science of Yoga.

March 2010 – Honored with Degree of Doctorate of Sciences by Amity University ,Noida,Uttar Pradesh.

April 2010 – Honored with honorary degree of Doctor of Science by Dr D. Y. Patil Deemed University,Pune,Maharashtra.

January 2011 – Honored with Sri Chandrashekharendra Saraswati National Eminence Award by Maharashtra Governor K. Shankaranarayanan.

See also

Hinduism

Secularity

References

External links

Patanjali Yogpeeth – Divya Yog Madir

Full text of Ramdev's speech at the Ramlila Ground in New Delhi on un 03, 2011

Bharat Swabhiman Andolan

BBC Audio Interview with Swami Ramdev in Hindi

The republic and the wayward rationalist – Essay by P. Sainath

BBC Interview with Swami Ramdev

BBC News – Yogi cleared of animal parts row – March 8, 2006

Swami Ramdev Website

Swami Baba Ramdev

Category:Living people Category:Indian Hindus Category:Hindu gurus Category:People from Mahendragarh Category:Yogis Category:Indian activists Category:1971 births Category:Haridwar

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name	Rahul Gandhi
birth date	June 19, 1970
birth place	New Delhi, India
residence	New Delhi, India
nationality	Indian
office1	Member of Lok Sabha from Amethi
term start1	2004
office2	General Secretary of the Indian National Congress
term start2	2007
office3	Chairperson of IYC and NSUI
term start3	2007
alma mater	Rollins CollegeTrinity College, Cambridge
relations	Rajiv Gandhi (father) Sonia Gandhi (mother)
party	Indian National Congress
signature	Signature of Rahul Gandhi.svg
date	5 June
year	2011
signature	}}

Rahul Gandhi ( ; born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician and member of the parliament of India, representing the Amethi constituency. His political party is the Indian National Congress.

Early life and career

Rahul Gandhi was born in Delhi on 19 June 1970 as the first of the two children of Rajiv Gandhi, who later became the Prime Minister of India and Sonia Gandhi, who later became President of Indian National Congress, and as the grandson of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He is also the great-grandson of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Priyanka Vadra is his younger sister. His mother, Sonia Gandhi, is originally from Turin, Italy; his parents met in Cambridge, England where she was a student at Bell Educational Trust's language school and he, an engineering student at Trinity College. They married in New Delhi in 1968. Rajiv Gandhi later obtained a commercial pilot's license and was a pilot in Indian Airlines when Rahul was born.

Rahul Gandhi attended St. Columba's School, Delhi before entering The Doon School in Dehradun (Uttarakhand), also his father's ''alma mater'', from 1981–83. Meanwhile, his father had joined politics and became the Prime Minister on October 31, 1984 when Indira Gandhi was assassinated. Due to the security threats faced by Indira Gandhi's family from Sikh extremists, Rahul Gandhi and his sister, Priyanka were home-schooled since then. Rahul Gandhi joined St. Stephen's College, Delhi in 1989 for his undergraduate education but moved to Harvard University after he completed the first year examinations. In 1991, after Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE during an election rally, he shifted to Rollins College due to security concerns and completed his B.A. in 1994. During this period, he assumed the pseudonym Raul Vinci and his identity was known only to the university officials and security agencies. He further went on to obtain a M.Phil from Trinity College, Cambridge University in 1995. After graduation, Rahul Gandhi worked at the Monitor Group, a management consulting firm, in London. In 2002 he was one of the directors of Mumbai-based technology outsourcing firm Backops Services Private Ltd.

In 2004, Rahul Gandhi told the press that he has a girlfriend Veronique, a Spanish architect who lives in Venezuela.

Political career

In 2003, there was widespread media speculation on the issue of Rahul Gandhi's imminent entry into active politics, which he did not confirm. Sonia Gandhi, his mother, had joined politics in 1997 after staying away for years despite the demands by Congress party and had become the president of Indian National Congress. In 1999 General Elections, he appeared with his mother at public events and Congress meetings. He also traveled to Pakistan on a goodwill visit to watch the first cricket series between the countries in 14 years in a One Day International with his sister Priyanka Gandhi.

Speculation heightened in January 2004 about his and his sister's possible entry into politics when they visited their father's former constituency of Amethi, which their mother held at the time. He refused to give a definitive response, stating "I am not averse to politics. I have not decided when I will enter politics and indeed, if I ever will."

In March 2004, he announced his entry into politics by announcing that he would contest the May 2004 elections, standing for his father's former constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament. Before that, his uncle Sanjay held the seat before his death in a plane crash. The seat had been held by his mother until she transferred to the neighbouring seat of Rae Bareilly. The Congress had been doing poorly in Uttar Pradesh, holding only 10 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state at the time. At the time, this move generated surprise among political commentators, who had regarded his sister Priyanka as being the more charismatic and likely to succeed. Party officials did not have a curriculum vitae ready for the media, such was the surprise of his move. It generated speculation that the presence of a young member of India's most famous political family would reinvigorate the Congress party's political fortunes among India's youthful population In his first interview with foreign media, he portrayed himself as a uniter of the country and condemned "divisive" politics in India, saying that he would try to reduce caste and religious tensions. His candidature was greeted with excitement by locals, who had a long standing affinity with the family's presence in the area. , Politician of Indian National Congress He won with a landslide majority, retaining the family stronghold with a margin of over 100,000 as the Congress unexpectedly defeated the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Until 2006 he held no other office and concentrated mainly on constituency issues and the politics of Uttar Pradesh, and it was widely speculated in the Indian and international press that Sonia Gandhi is trying to groom him for a chance to become a national-level Congress leader in the future.

In January 2006, at a convention of the Indian National Congress in Hyderabad, thousands of party members asked for Gandhi to take a more prominent leadership role in the party and demanded that he address the delegates. He said "I appreciate and I am grateful for your feelings and support. I assure you I will not let you down", but asked for patience and declined to immediately seek a higher profile role.

Gandhi and his sister (married to Robert Vadhera) managed their mother's campaign for reelection to Rae Bareilly in 2006, which was won easily with a margin greater than 400,000 votes.

He was a prominent figure in a high profile Congress campaign for the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections; Congress, however, won only 22 seats with 8.53% of votes. The election saw the Bahujan Samaj Party, which represents low caste Indians, to become the first party to govern in its own right in Uttar Pradesh in 16 years.

Rahul Gandhi was appointed a general secretary of the All India Congress Committee on 24 September 2007 in a reshuffle of the party secretariat. In the same reshuffle, he was also given charge of the Indian Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India.

In 2008, senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily mentioned “Rahul-as-PM” idea when the PM of India Manmohan Singh was still abroad. Indian Politicians drew own conclusions. Evidently, the Prime Minister also took notice of it.

Youth politics

In his attempt to prove himself as a youth leader in November 2008 he held interviews at his 12, Tughlak Lane residence in New Delhi to handpick at least 40 people who will make up the think-tank of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), an organisation that he has been keen to transform since he was appointed general secretary in September 2007.

Under Rahul Gandhi, IYC and NSUI has seen a dramatic increase in members from a few hundred thousand to several million.

Rahul Gandhi participated in an interactive session with students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. The University student unions have been traditionally dominated by the Left. His party, INC, however, was quick to play up Rahul's visit to JNU as an “excellent example of youth participation in politics”. Rahul's grandmother, Indira Gandhi had to face huge opposition from Left student unions during her visit to the university campus in 1982 because of her decision to impose emergency. Rahul was quizzed by the students on issues ranging from hiearchial politics in India, to his visits to Dalit Houses, economic growth in the country and education reforms. Some papers, however, reported Rahul's visit to JNU as a political attempt to strengthen the newly constituted unit of NSUI at JNU.

In various reports it has been proved that Rahul Gandhi has failed in his promise to eliminate family, patronage, money from Youth Congress. It has been seen that an aspiring delegates need to pay a substantial sum as nomination fee. Hence, an aspiring office-bearer with deep pockets sponsors them thereby allowing money power to have a role in the elections.

2009 elections

In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he retained his Amethi constituency by defeating his nearest rival by a margin of over 333,000 votes. In these elections congress is said to have revived itself in Uttar Pradesh by winning 21 out of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats and the majority of the credit for this turnaround is given to Rahul Gandhi. He spoke at 125 rallies across the country in six weeks.

He is referred to as RG in party circles.

Land Acquisition Protests Arrest

On 11 May 2011 Rahul Gandhi was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police at Bhatta Parsaul village after he turned out in support of agitating farmers demanding more compensation for their land being acquired for a highway project. He was released after being held for about three hours and later returned to New Delhi. He was to be presented before a Sub-Divisional Magistrate on 12 May 2011.

Political and legal issues

Comparison of RSS and SIMI

Rahul Gandhi has been critical of right-wing groups like the RSS and compared them to terrorist organizations like SIMI. According to a cable leaked by Wikileaks, in 2009, he allegedly shared concerns with the American ambassador to India Timothy Roemer that radicalized Hindu groups may pose a bigger threat to India than Islamic terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba. His comments on radical Hindu groups were criticized by the opposition party, as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Sukanya Devi

It has been alleged that Rahul Gandhi had detained a girl and her parents since 2007. On 01st Mar 2011, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi., however all the allegations were found to be false. Allahbad high court not only dismissed the case after the girl in question appeared in the court, but slapped a 50 lakh penalty against the petitioner ordering a CBI inquiry against her and websites publishing the story.

13th Jul 2011 Terror Attack remarks

On 14th Jul 2011, a day after the serial bombing in Mumbai, Rahul Gandhi gave a statement that "it was very difficult to stop every single terror attack". The remark resulted in a number of strong criticism from a number of Shiv Sena party members.

See also

Political Families of The World

References

External links

Profile at ''BBC News''

Profile at Govt. of India website

Rahul Gandhi collected news and commentary at ''The Times of India''

Category:Indian National Congress politicians Category:Nehru–Gandhi family Category:14th Lok Sabha members Category:15th Lok Sabha members Category:Doscos Category:Harvard University alumni Category:People from New Delhi Category:Rollins College alumni Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:Children of Prime Ministers of India Category:Indian people of Italian descent Category:University of Delhi alumni

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