Has Baba Ramdev debased the debate on corruption?

GN Bureau | August 10, 2012



Just as Gandhian Anna Hazare called off a fast at Jantar Mantar, yoga guru Baba Ramdev has begun one at Ramila Maidan. A section of intelligentsia says that while Hazare’s movement though on the downside of popularity is still characterised by an engagement of keen minds on the debate on corruption, Ramdev’s is a movement driven by popularity and emotions. The yoga guru also severely compromised his anti-corruption platform by putting up posters of his aide Balakrishna (who is in jail for forging passport documents) alongside those of Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad at the fast venue.

It is actions such as these that allowed law minister Salman Khursheed to liken his Ramlila Maidan fast as another Ramlila while Mani Shankar Aiyar dismissed Ramdev and his followers as a “bunch of jokers” (on CNN-IBN on Thursday night).

Do you believe that Ramdev has debased the debate on corruption?

Read the full debate here

 

Comments

 

Other News

The economics of representation: Why women in power matter

India’s democracy has grown in scale, but not quite in balance. Women today are active participants in elections, influencing outcomes in ways that were not as visible earlier. Yet their presence in legislative institutions continues to lag behind. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was meant to addres

India will be powerful, not aggressive: Bhaiyyaji

India is poised to emerge as a global power but will remain rooted in its civilisational ethos of non-aggression and harmony, former RSS General Secretary Suresh `Bhaiyyaji` Joshi has said.   He was speaking at the launch of “Rashtrabhav,” a book by Ravindra Sathe

AI: Code, Control, Conquer

India today stands at a critical juncture in the area of artificial intelligence. While the country is among the fastest adopters of AI in the world, it remains heavily reliant on technologies developed elsewhere. This paradox, experts warn, cannot persist if India seeks technological sovereignty.

RBI pauses to assess inflation risks, policy transmission

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has begun the new fiscal year with a calibrated pause, keeping the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent in its April Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. The decision, taken unanimously, reflects a shift from aggressive policy action to cautious observation after a signi

New pathways for tourism growth

Traditionally, India’s tourism policy has been based on three main components: the number of visitors, building tourist attractions and providing facilities for tourists. Due to the increase in climate-related issues and environmental destruction that occurred over previous years, policymakers have b

Is the US a superpower anymore?

On April 8, hours after warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight,” US president Donald Trump, exhibiting his unique style of retreating from high-voltage brinkmanship, announced that he agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. The weekend talks in Islamabad have failed and the futur


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter