The Indian Medical Association (IMA), Uttarakhand has sent a Rs 1,000-crore defamation notice to Patanjali founder Baba Ramdev over remarks made by him concerning allopathic doctors.
In the notice, the IMA stated that an amount of Rs 1,000 crore will be demanded from Ramdev if he does not post a video countering the statements against allopathic doctors and sends a written apology within the next 15 days.
IMA Uttarakhand President Dr Ajay Khanna said a letter has been sent to the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary on Monday evening regarding this defamation notice. "In the letter, it is written that there is a lot of resentment among the IMA doctors against the statement of Baba Ramdev. The Union Health Minister has also sent a notice to Ramdev on the same stating that the statement is considered incorrect," Khanna told news agency ANI. Khanna added that strict action should be taken against Ramdev immediately.
Earlier, Ramdev had withdrawn the statements on allopathy medicine after receiving a letter from Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, who called the remarks by Patanjali founder "inappropriate".
"We do not oppose modern medical science and allopathy. We believe that allopathy has shown immense progress in surgery and the lifesaving system and served humanity. My statement has been quoted as part of a WhatsApp message that I was reading during a meeting of volunteers. I am sorry if it has hurt anyone's sentiment," Ramdev wrote in his letter to Harsh Vardhan.
On May 22, IMA had sent a legal notice to Ramdev over the alleged remarks made against allopathy and for "defaming" scientific medicine. Patanjali has so far denied the allegations by IMA that Ramdev misled people by making "unlearned" statements about allopathy and defamed scientific medicine.
"IMA brings to the notice of our Health Minister, a video circulating in social media portraying, the celebrated Yoga Guruji saying that 'modern allopathy ek aisi stupid aur diwaliya science hai' (modern allopathy is a stupid and failed science)," the IMA had said in a statement.
Also read: Ramdev's statement taken out of context, he believes allopathy is progressive science: Patanjali
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