New Delhi, India - FOLLOWERS of one of India’s most revered religious gurus attacked the offices of the Indian Communist Party last night in protest over left-wing claims that the yogi had used human remains in his hugely popular herbal medicines.
The riots in central Delhi came after Brinda Karat, a senior Communist Party MP, went public on an investigation she had ordered into the multimillion-pound herbal medicine empire owned by Swami Ramdev. She accused the guru of using human bones and animal parts in Ayurvedic drugs produced by his pharmacy.
Ms Karat said that government laboratory reports which she had ordered into the Ayurvedic drugs manufactured by the yogi had revealed traces of human bones apparently ground up to make the pills.
She said: “We came to know a number of months ago that herbal Ayurvedic medicines prepared by Divya Yog Pharmacy, owned by Ramdev, contained animal material and human bones. After handing our samples over to government labs our apprehensions have been confirmed.”
The swami, who hosts his own popular television programme dedicated to the ancient practice of yoga, denied the allegations, asserting that they were part of a communist conspiracy against him and his followers.
He also accused Ms Karat of being in league with multinational drug makers who wanted to put him out of business.
Swami Ramdev’s pharmacy, based in the northern town of Haridwar, which the Beatles visited during their exploration of Eastern mysticism in the late 1960s, stocks herbal medicines that, it is claimed, treat conditions from epilepsy and impotence to cancer, one of which is believed to have shown traces of human bones. The Indian authorities allow animal parts such as pigeon blood, ox bile and even cat testicles in drugs used for Ayurveda, the ancient Hindu health system, as long as they are properly labelled.
But the use of human parts, at least for public sale, is prohibited, and Ms Karat’s allegation has enraged Swami Ramdev’s supporters.
Hindu nationalist politicians have also accused Ms Karat of trying to undermine the Hindu religion.
Ram Madhav, a spokesman for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak, a hardline Hindu movement, joined in the debate, claiming that Ms Karat was part of a conspiracy to demean reputed persons of Bharatiya (Indian) culture.
Last night, after supporters of both the swami and the MP gathered at Communist Party offices, police were forced to charge the swami’s followers after they threw stones at the authorities.
The Hindu protesters also burnt an effigy of Ms Karat, leaving it on the pavement outside the offices.
If found guilty by the Uttaranchal authorities of mislabelling his medicines as purely herbal, the swami could be sent to prison.