Politics is a quagmire and very few are able to steer clear of the smear.  Baba Ramdev, as soon as he forayed into politics has come to see this fact. First Digvijay Singh of the Congress alleged him to be a tax evader and demanded an inquiry into all his assets. Now Baba is in the cross-hair of many a Hindu divines. Indian history is fraught with examples telling that whenever a divine is confronted with political machinations, politics has always had to bite dust. So Baba piqued by Singh, retorted that he had already become a multi-million brand in the Indian market. Point is can religion be corporatized? Can divines turn into businessmen? Can religion be commercialized? To answer these questions we interviewed ‘Bharatiya Sant Samiti’ President of UP and Shri Kalki Peethadheeshwar Pramod Krishnam. What all he divulged is scary to believe.

Baba Ramdev lived and trained in Haridwar. He was the disciple of Baba Shankardev and they were so close that they lived in the same room. Suddenly the revered Baba Shankardev disappeared in thin air. Nobody ever had any clue as to where he went. His dead body was never found. Now Pramod Krishnam has directly alleged that Ramdev has murdered Shankardev for inheriting all his fame and property which he actually did. He also demands that a high level inquiry in this matter should be instituted.

To dig into Ramdev’s precedents we talked to the Head (Jagatguru) of the Vasishnav sect. he spoke under anonymity so we cannot divulge his name. He said that Ramdegv is a fraud. The religious divines know all his wrongdoings but are not ready to come forward and tell the people of this country as they fear for their lives!!! The Jagatguru was close to Shankardev too. Jagatguru told that Ramdev was a loafer and used to while away his time at his ashram. He used to do some petty jobs at the ashram and used to own a dilapidated scooter. He defrauded his teacher Shankardev into transferring a property named Divya Yog Mandir. The Jagat guru is sure that if he could do such a thing then he only would have got his teacher murdered. The Jagatguru narrates an incidence when he slapped Ramdev several times before asking him how could he defraud his own teacher. He says, Ramdev crying, broke down at his feet and vowed that he would never do such a thing again and that he would carry on the right path. The divine says that Ramdev is in the habit of getting people murdered. In case of any opposition he liquidates it physically.

Whole of India and the divines of Hindu society are looking at Ramdev. But the irony is that the latter are doing so for all the wrong reasons. Ramdev has lost the confidence of the very same people who were once his childhood friends, his companions and his teachers. This is a challenging time for Ramdev. Pramod Krishnam alleges that Ramdev is also behind the mysterious death of Rajeev Dixit. Rajeev was just forty. He was always by the Baba’s side when alive. He used to lecture along with Ramdev. He died of heart attack. Now the question is that when Ramdev claims to cure heart patients from around the world, why and how could he, not cure his own companion. And when he could not save the life of his close confidante how can he claim that his medicines cure heart diseases.

It is learnt that Rajeev and his family members wanted medical treatment but Ramdev told them not to do so as this would send a bad message in the country. For Baba it remained a matter of sending a message but Rajeev lost his life.  There are actually other intriguing questions that complicate the matter further. Why was Rajeev cremated in such a hurry and without a post-mortem inquiry? Those who attended his last rites, says Krishnam, told that his lips had turned deep blue. The divines of the country are asking if a heart attack involves such symptoms as this. All this lends credence to the conspiracy theory that says that the unscrupulous Baba removed Rajeev and Shankardev  from his path criminally. There is a company called, Astha Broadcasting Limited, which has recently been renamed as the Vedic Broadcasting Limited. This company used to run the popular channel Astha. Baba was broadcasting on this channel for three years and the money due to this was to be paid. The amount being huge, Baba and his confidantes got Kirit Mehta, the Chairman of the company, kidnapped and illegally confined. Pramod Krishnam alleges that Baba got Mehta kidnapped along with a man called Tijaarewaala and an industrialist whose name he does not want to give out. Thereafter Mehta was made to sign on a blank paper and thus his company was transferred and renamed. Also Mehta was threatened not to come back to India or he would be eliminated.  Krishnam says that all this was told to him by Mehta himself. Actually, Krishnam was giving a program on another religious channel Disha on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi when Kirit Mehta called him up over the live program and exposed the Baba. Being live the whole world listened to this. Mehta told Krishnam, when the latter asked him to return back from hiding, that he would be murdered if he did so. Actually it is matter of surprise as it was Astha channel that played the pivotal role in making Ramdev what he is today. Pramod Krishnam alleges that Ramdev has tarnished the ages old Hindu civilization and its divines by turning religion into a private limited company. ‘Patanjali Foods Private Limited’ was funded by the government while, the Baba is using that money to further his own business enterprises. The divines are branding Ramdev’s campaign against Black Money as sham as he himself is a legatee of the very same system.

So far as entry in politics is concerned, Sant Samiti has no objection to that. Krishnam credits Ramdev for having revived the tradition of Yoga again and for having propagated it far and wide not only in the country but also to a number of foreign countries. While giving Yoga lessons Ramdev used to give social and political messages too and those were respected and loved.

But the Baba must realize that the two domains of politics and religion are distinct nd different though not contradictory. The politician takes care of politics while a divine takes care of the moral health of the people. There is a difference. The divine can choose to be silent while a politician cannot without risking his political career. Now that Baba has entered politics he cannot choose to be silent, he will have to come in the open in front of the people and answer the queries and snub the allegations raised against him.