Yesterday, the Indian Medical Association filed a Rs 1000 crore defamation suit against Yoga Guru and Patanjali Founder Baba Ramdev for his alleged disparaging comments against allopathy and allopathic doctors.
The IMA demanded an apology from Baba Ramdev within 15 days, failing which it will demand a compensation of Rs 1,000 crore from the yoga guru.
Baba Ramdev had questioned the efficacy of allopathy and allopathic medicines.
It is unfortunate that the faceoff between adherents of Ayurveda and Allopathy is taking place when Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to integrate allopathy, homoeopathy and Ayurveda in medical practice, education and research.
Amidst this wrangle, the profile of the Indian Medical Association sounds interesting. It is a body that was created in 1928 during the British rule in India and is supposed to be a non-political body.
But, is the IMA apolitical?
Dr Johnrose Austin Jayalal, its current president, is a staunch BJP hater and regularly targets BJP leaders, including Modi, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by sharing fake news, cartoons and hashtags.
Recently, he was seen extending support to the fake farmers’ protest to show the Modi government in a poor light.
So, as head of the IMA Dr Jayalal has made his political leanings very clear.
In addition to this, as we dug deep into his profile, we found that he is associated with a Christian missionary and actively converts innocent people into Christianity.
As a testimony, Dr Jayalal, in an interview, suggests Hindus to accept Jesus and Muhammad as their Gods, because they are polytheists and hence will not be difficult for them to do so.
Dr Jayalal also believes Christian doctors to be gifted with a paranormal ability to not only affect physical and mental ure, but also spiritual healing. He advocates Christian doctors working more in number in secular institutions, mission institutions, and medical colleges, who can impart Christian healing to the patients.
So as head of the IMA, Dr Jayalal makes his religious leanings obvious.
But, why is IMA after Baba Ramdev at all? The answer is simple. It is due to business rivalry. The products of multinational companies, which IMA endorses, are costlier than Patanjali’s.
Therefore, the yoga guru’s company causes a huge harm to multinational companies in business terms and hence IMA serving a defamation notice of Rs 1000 crore to Baba Ramdev doesn’t surprise anyone.
But, before IMA could serve the notice, it could have checked whether it is even a dollar’s worth. Did IMA ever fight against medical abuse and malpractice rampant in allopathy? Did it ever raise a voice against the thuggish pharma companies that push harmful drugs?
Wish IMA learns from Thai doctors who led campaigns for genuine medical reforms making their healthcare system among the best. In Thailand, Ayurveda is fully integrated with allopathy at all levels.
There is absolutely no war between the two systems.
Alas, some more questions remain to be answered. Does IMA have legal authority or control over the medical profession at all?
Or, does it have moral authority to serve notices when its members are culpable of receiving money and gifts like AC, television and high end gadgets, free alcohol and trips under garb of conferences, and many more from multinational companies?
A true sanyasi wouldn’t accept money and gifts for ulterior motives, and that’s the trust people have in him. Beware ….