The yoga tycoon’s endorsement of Patanjali products as cures for chronic conditions raises ethical and legal questions.
For the past three years, Baba Ramdev has been headlining a special programme on India TV. The show, called “Yog ke Rang, Swami Ramdev Ke Sang”, is broadcast between 8 and 9 am every day. It follows a template the yoga guru is best known for: leading viewers through various yoga poses. Often, he doubles up as an ayurveda expert, doling out remedies for a host of diseases.
On 9 February, while Ramdev was in the middle of a leg raise, the anchor asked him a question about glaucoma. “They say this disease can only be controlled, not cured,” the …
Omkar specializes in long-form narrative features and has reported from India, the UK, Germany and the Maldives. He writes across beats, from politics and crime to cinema and sports. His works have been published in Indian and international outlets including The Caravan, Mint Lounge, the BBC, Al Jazeera and The Huffington Post.
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