After the Indian Medical Association requested action on Saturday, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan wrote a letter to yoga guru Ramdev on Sunday, requesting that he withdraw his unacceptable remarks against allopathy.
India’s incredible healthcare staff, according to the health minister, are battling Covid-19 every day for their countrymen. Ramdev’s statements, he said, had hurt the country’s feelings by disparaging India’s ‘Corona warriors.’
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) in an official statement thanked the health minister for “understanding the anguish and pain created in the medical fraternity” due to Ramdev’s statements.
“Thank you for recognising the importance of modern medicine to our country’s healthcare and welfare,” said IMA President Dr. Jayalal. This is not the time to point out flaws in each other’s medical services. This is the time to work together for the good of our country, in harmony and coordination. IMA is still happy to work with the government to organise all of its Covid-19-fighting efforts.
A video circulated on social media, according to the IMA, shows Ramdev calling western medicine a “stupid science.” He reportedly went on to state that drugs authorised by the Drugs Controller General of India, such as remdesivir and fabiflu, had failed to treat Covid patients in India.
Ramdev said that “lakhs of [Covid] patients died after taking allopathic medicines.”
In reaction, Ramdev’s remarks were taken out of context, according to the Haridwar-based Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust, of which he is the creator.
The IMA said in a statement released on Saturday that the yoga guru should be charged under the Epidemic Diseases Act because his “untutored” statements are “a threat to the country’s literate society as well as the poor people who fall prey to him.”
“If the minister [Harsh Vardhan] does not take suo moto action, we will be forced to resort to democratic means of struggle to propagate the truth to the common man. We will knock at the doors of the judiciary to get due justice,” the IMA’s statement had said.
The doctors’ body also sent a legal notice to Ramdev on Saturday asking for a ‘written apology’ and ‘recall of statements’.
