‘Nobody’s Father Can Arrest Me’: Ramdev’s New Clip Draws Flak

Meanwhile, the IMA filed a complaint against Ramdev for his remarks on allopathy’s “failure” to contain COVID.

A file photo of Baba Ramdev with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. Image used for representation.

(Photo: PTI)

As the tussle between Baba Ramdev and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) continues over the former’s remarks on allopathic treatments and doctors, another video of the Yoga guru has surfaced on social media, in which he can be heard saying that “nobody’s father can arrest him”.

While it is not clear when and in what context he made the remarks, many took to social media to slam Ramdev over it in the backdrop of a chorus for his arrest on social media over his remarks on allopathy’s “failure” to contain COVID-19.

In a 40-second clip from a press conference that is being circulated on social media, Ramdev can be heard saying: “Arrest to khair unka baap bhi nahin kar sakta Swami Ramdev ko (Nobody’s father can arrest Ramdev).”

“They keep trending stuff, like ‘Thug Ramdev’, ‘Mahathug Ramdev’, ‘Arrest Ramdev’, etc. Let them do it. Our people have become accustomed to running such trends,” he adds.

The video surfaced while the IMA filed a police complaint against Ramdev on Thursday, alleging offences under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and the Disaster Management Act, 2005, along with other relevant provisions of law.

While The Quint tried to verify the video, the following observations were made:

• There is no clue to hint at when and where exactly did he make the remarks.
• There was a ZOOM interaction uploaded on Ramdev's Facebook page on 22 May that had a similar setting as in the clip. The placement of the people in the video was also exactly similar to the clip that is being shared
• However, the clip being shared is not a part of the interaction uploaded on Facebook.

Uproar on Social Media

While it remains unclear when the statement was made, many took to social media to slam Ramvev for his arrogance and asked if he was above the law.

The IMA on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding sedition charges to be levelled against Ramdev for his comments against allopathic treatments of COVID-19 and said that his claims were “deliberate attempts to stall the efforts of vaccination”.

In several videos that have surfaced over the past few days, Baba Ramdev can be heard questioning allopathic treatments for COVID-19 and making false claims of doctors dying of the infection despite taking both doses of the vaccines.

The IMA had earlier raised the issue with Vardhan, following which, the latter had written to Ramdev expressing disappointment.