Ramdev must talk less, stick to issues

The New Indian Express

Last Updated : 10 Jun 2011 12:04:04 AM IST

Baba Ramdev has done his image as a widely respected spiritual guru as well as the movement against black money led by him immeasurable harm by threatening to raise a private militia to take forward his mission. It is obvious that the brutal manner in which he and his supporters were evicted from the Ramlila grounds in the dead of night has hurt his ego so much that he has begun to think in terms of resisting such onslaughts in future in the name of self-defence. However, any such endeavour will be extremely unwise not only because of the inevitable possibility of violence, but also because that is exactly the excuse which the government needs to crack down even harder on him and give the civil society activists, including those with Anna Hazare, a bad name.


The resultant demoralisation among them will not be easy to overcome if only because there are sections in the political class and in the media who will not be too unhappy with such a turn of events. As it is, the government has made its intention clear by targeting the yoga guru’s business enterprise to undermine his position. The very timing of the official move shows that the government is guided not so much by a desire to check whether everything is aboveboard as to discredit Baba Ramdev and ensnare him in legal difficulties so that he will not have much time to carry on his campaign.

Baba Ramdev’s decision to declare his assets shows that he has seen through the government’s game, but he has to be careful not only with his deeds, but his words as well because any loose talk, as about the militia, will have long-term debilitating consequences. Nothing can be more disheartening for his many admirers because his highly laudable effort to unearth black money, along with Anna Hazare’s focus on the Lokpal Bill, have cornered the government far more effectively than what the Opposition parties could do. The next stage is crucial because any misstep by civil society will mean playing into the government’s hands