If I have black money, make it national property: Ramdev

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who
fasted earlier this month against mounting
corruption in the country, said here Sunday
that if any black money was found with him,
it could be declared national property.
"If the government finds any black money
with me, they can declare it national
property," Ramdev said while addressing a
press conference in the Capital.
Weeks after he was forced to quit Delhi,
Baba Ramdev returned here Sunday to meet
Raj Bala, 51, who is at the GB Pant Hospital
since suffering spinal injuries in a police
crackdown on the yoga guru post midnight
June 4.
"Behen Raj Bala is in very critical condition.
Only a miracle can save her once the
ventilator is removed," he said.
"This government is not only corrupt but
also cruel. If I had not asked the people to
stay calm, there would have been a pool of
dead bodies," he added.
Delhi Police broke up his fast against
corruption and black money stashed abroad
at the Ramlila ground here, dispersing
thousands of men and women using force
and tear gas. Many suffered injuries. Raj Bala
was one of them.
He was asked to leave Delhi and banned
from entering the city for 15 days. Ramdev
continued his fast in Haridwar and
Dehradun till June 12.

Section 144 withdrawn at Ramlila Maidan

Section 144 has been withdrawn at Ramlila Maidan. The order clamped on June 4 and prohibiting the assembling of people at the protest hub was used by Delhi Police to justify eviction of Baba Ramdev's supporters on the intervening night of June 4 and 5.

"The prohibitory order issued under section 144 Criminal Procedure Code 1973, in the area of sub-division Kamla Market by the ACP of the area dated 04.06.2011 is hereby withdrawn with immediate effect," the order issued on June 16 states. Senior officers at police headquarters and central district said that after a review of the law and order situation it has been decided that there was no immediate need for another prohibitory order.

Speaking to TOI, senior cops also affirmed that there were no "officially recorded statement" which restrains Baba Ramdev from coming to Delhi at present. "We are yet to officially restrain him from coming to the capital. However, there is an FIR registered against the Ramlila gathering and at least the role of eight people including Ramdev is under probe. We do not want to comment on the investigations right now but we might arrest him if our investigations provide us with proof that he had instigated the public at Ramlila Maidan. At present, he has not been named as an accused in our FIR,'' clarified a senior police officer.

According to the police, as the camp was broken up 72 people were injured, which included 39 civilians and 23 policemen. An apex court bench of Justice B.S. Chauhan and Justice Swatantar Kumar took suo motu cognizance of the police action against Baba Ramdev, referring to media reports.

Meanwhile, Jantar Mantar, the most favoured spot for crusaders since the late eighties, may soon become inaccessible for them. The Delhi government, in the backdrop of over 1.5 lakh people protesting at Jantar Mantar in 2010 and as many as 12,000 getting detained for breaching the law in the first six months of the year, is mulling over identifying an alternative site for protests.

"It is submitted that as long as the demonstrations are held in the small road space currently being used for this purpose, inconvenience will be faced by people passing through Tolstoy Marg, Jantar Mantar Road, Parliament Street and Jai Singh Road. Besides this, people travelling to their houses and offices located on the said roads as well as Connaught Place will also be inconvenienced.

As a natural corollary, a more convenient location with ample space has to be identified for holding demonstrations in Delhi," read the affidavit, adduced by Standing Counsel for the government Najmi Waziri before a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra. He was responding to a petition by the residents of the Dhawandeep RWA, which had sought relief from the noise generated by agitations.

Delhi Police files affidavit; Justify Ramdev’s eviction

The Delhi Police Friday filed its affidavit
before the Supreme Court on charges of
alleged use of force to evict followers of
yoga guru Baba Ramdev from Ramlila
Ground on the night of June 4.
In the affidavit, Delhi Police has denied the
allegations that it used force to disperse off
crowd from the site. The Delhi Police also
justified the eviction action stating that the
number of people that had gathered at the
Ramlila Ground had exceeded more than
three times beyond the permission granted
by the police. It said that permission was
granted for gathering of only 5,000 people
but more than 20,000 people had gathered
on the night of the eviction.
The Delhi Police also alleged that Ramdev’s
followers had resorted to stone pelting and
violence against the police personnel and in
response the police had to use teargas
shells. The Delhi Police has also claimed that
only eight teargas shells were fired and it
maintained maximum restraint.
Earlier the Apex Court had taken suo moto
cognizance of media reports on the
midnight crackdown on yoga guru Baba
Ramdev and his supporters in New Delhi's
Ramlila Ground on early hour of last Sunday,
and issued notices to Union Home Secretary,
Delhi Chief Secretary, and Commissioner of
Police.
Baba Ramdev was on a hunger fast at
Delhi’s Ramlila Ground against corruption
along with his followers. Among others
demands, Ramdev’s prime demand was
black money deposited in other countries
abroad, to be declared as National Property.
After being forcibly removed from the site,
Ramdev was then packed off from the
capital.

Sri Sri Ravishankar to visit Dehradun hospital for third time, convince Baba Ramdev to end fast

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev may be in hospital, but is not giving in to demands of breaking his fast. All efforts are on to convince Baba Ramdev to end his fast which has entered its ninth day today.

Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is expected to visit Ramdev for a third time today to try and convince him to end his fast. Sri Sri paid a visit to Baba Ramdev yesterday but couldn't convince the yoga icon to break his fast.

"He is adamant... I am adamant that he will give up his fast. I will stay here as long as it takes for him to give up his fast," Sri Sri told mediapersons after meeting Baba Ramdev for the second time on Saturday.
The spiritual guru also expressed his willingness to mediate between the yoga guru and the government.

"I am always ready for reconciliation, the issue is sensitive. If the government wants to do something, then I am always ready to talk", Sri Sri said.
The Uttarakhand government has already appealed to Baba Ramdev to end his fast.

"We have asked him to break his fast, his well being is very important for India and for the world as he has established India's identity in the world in all spheres. Everyone is looking upto him and it is important for him to recover to fulfill his efforts for our country," Uttarakhand Agriculture Minister Trivendra Rawat said on Saturday.

Many other political leaders, especially from NDA-ruled states like Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, also tried, but failed to convince Baba Ramdev to give up his fast-unto-death.

In the midst of the debate on whether Ramdev's agitation was organised by the RSS, the organisation's chief Mohan Bhagwat issued a statement asking Ramdev to give up his hunger strike.
But the yoga teacher is adamant he won't give in until his demands on black money are met by the Centre.

Ramdev was admitted to the Himalayan Hospital in Dehradun on Friday after his condition deteriorated following his fast against corruption. There were also some concerns regarding Baba Ramdev's health as his blood pressure had dropped despite treatment. However, doctors briefed the media on Saturday and said the condition of the yoga guru is improving.

The yoga teacher was carried out of his ashram in Haridwar on a stretcher on Friday afternoon after doctors attending to him said his liver had been affected and his blood pressure was worryingly low because of his hunger strike. Ramdev was given glucose en route to the hospital, but he has refused to end his hunger strike.

The yoga icon whose followers run into lakhs started his fast last Saturday morning in Delhi at the Ramlila Maidan. 65,000 people were in attendance on Saturday night when the police broke up the camp with teargassing and a lathicharge. The Baba was evicted and flown back to Uttarakhand.

The action at Ramlila Maidan ended days of negotiation between the government and the Baba over his suggestions for how to tackle the problem of crores of untaxed money that have been shipped abroad. The late-night violence united Opposition parties who accused the government of violating citizens' right to peacefully protest. Civil activists who have declared Gandhian Anna Hazare their leader pounded the government too, with public criticism and a one-day fast at Rajghat on Wednesday.

The government has disclosed that various tax inquiries are being conducted against the Baba's business empire whose reported turnover is more than a thousand crores. Yesterday, the Baba retaliated by declaring online the balance sheets of the four trusts that he runs for charitable purposes. However, he did not share the financial records of the 34 companies that are linked to him and are run by his close aide, Acharya Balakrishna.

The Baba has also been forced to defend a controversial remark he made earlier this week - that he would recruit 11,000 young men and women who would reciprocate if attacked. Yesterday, he said his remark had been distorted and misreported. "The words should be used in the right context... I said I will make a force who will not beat anyone but they will not get beaten either," the yoga teacher said, adding, "what is the harm or wrong if I speak about shaurya (valour)".

The Baba's remark - seen as incendiary by his critics - had also provoked criticism from other social activists and a warning of legal action from the government.

Govt rules out further talks with Baba Ramdev

The Government has ruled out any mediation or talks with Baba Ramdev after activist Swami Agnivesh approached Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in this regard on Friday.

Ramdev, who's been on a fast since June 4, was forcibly admitted to the ICU of a local hospital in Dehradoon on Friday after his health started deteriorating and put on drip.

Ramdev was administered glucose but he refused to call off his fast.

"We have had to take this step as Baba's vital parameters were falling. We have given him glucose," said M Meenakshi Sundaram, District Magistrate, Haridwar.

The doctors took him away on a day when the other revered priest Sri Sri Ravishankar himself flew to Haridwar to appeal to Baba Ramdev to end his fast.

Ever since his dramatic attempt to escape from Ram Lila Maida in women's clothes, Baba Ramdev has been spending his mornings and evenings in front of live TV cameras with each medical bulletin, every medical check up getting converted into a TV image.

But perhaps Ramdev had realised that his campaign was now beginning to flounder with questions being raised against the manner in which he had built his business empire worth over Rs 1000 crore.

"Companies had to be floated as there were a lot of things which couldn’t be done by trusts," Ramdev had said on Thursday.

With the civil society group led by Anna Hazare also making it clear that they didn’t agree with Baba Ramdev's policies, his only friends were from the BJP. The party tried to take credit for what it called was terrific management by its own state government in Uttarakhand.

"It’s good that his fast has been broken, I compliment our state government," said BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.

But despite the enforced breaking of the fast, Ramdev will now find it difficult to move beyond the accusations levelled against him by the Congress - that he was not just merely a yoga guru but more of a Sangh parivar front.

Ramdev taken to hospital, forced to end fast

Baba Ramdev has been hospitalised after his health deteriorated rapidly as his fast-unto-death against corruption and black money entered the seventh day on June 10 at the Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar. The Haridwar district administration decided to shift Ramdev to the Jolly Grant Hospital in Dehradun due to better medical facilities there. He was also administered glucose by the doctors that ended his fast.

"Baba Ramdev agreed to be shifted to the hospital. Baba Ramdev has been shifted to Jolly Grant Hospital in Dehradun in an ambulance. The ambulance has ICU facilities. The CMO is accompanying him. Glucose has been administered to Baba Ramdev. We shifted Baba Ramdev to hospital only after his consent. We went by the advice of the doctors attending him," said Haridwar District Magistrate R Meenakshi Sundaram.

Doctors had earlier told Ramdev to break his fast as he had been losing weight and his blood pressure was also dropping.

Haridwar district officials including Sundaram negotiated with Ramdev's associates at the Patanjali Yogpeeth where Ramdev has been fasting to admit him to a hospital.

Doctors fear that Ramdev's health could deteriorate further if his blood pressure and pulse rate continue to slide. Reports say that the yoga guru's blood pressure has fallen to 104/70, and his pulse rate is 58 per minute.

"As Baba Ramdev's health is deteriorating, he should stop his hunger strike immediately. We have requested him to stop his strike," said Dr Yogesh Chandra Sharma, the Chief Medical Officer of Haridwar, on Friday.

Dr Sharma said, "We want to admit him to the ICU so that we can do a heart checkup and other checkups on him." If Ramdev refuses to take glucose on Friday, the doctors will forcibly give it to him, Dr Sharma added.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could also step in and appeal to Ramdev to end the fast. Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to speak to Singh after a meeting with Swami Agnivesh.

Meanwhile, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will be going to Haridwar to meet the yoga guru. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is going to try and persuade Ramdev to end his fast.

Baba Ramdev has been continuing his fast against corruption and black money at Patanjali Peeth in Haridwar after he was externed from Delhi last week, following crackdown by the Delhi Police at his fast venue Ramlila Grounds.

Ramdev declares assets, claims Rs249 crore spent in charity

After announcing earlier today that he would be making all his assets public, Ramdev addressed the media at his Haridwar ashram today.

The yoga guru said that he would never preach violence and that he was misquoted by the media on his decision to set up a youth army.

His aide Balkrishna said that leading a public life makes it imperative to lead a transparent life.

He further said that a lot of questions were being raised on the spiritual guru's assets.

He confirmed the institution is run according to the norms of the govt and accounts are maintained with precision.

Declaring the yoga guru's assets, he said that the the Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust has spent Rs249 crore in charity and helping people during calamities.

The total capital of different institutions associated with Baba Ramdev is nearly Rs426 crore.

He said that they conducted annual audits and paid income tax.

Baba Ramdev's Rs 1,100 crore empire under scanner

The mammoth business empire of Baba Ramdev , its worth estimated at Rs 1,100 crore, is now under official scanner, informed sources said Tuesday. An aide to the yoga guru called it hogwash.
Sources in the corporate affairs ministry said that companies and trusts linked to Ramdev deal in ayurveda medicine, food, cosmetics, construction, real estate, transport and packaging.

An official told IANS that while there was no specific charge against these businesses, their income tax computation would be done.

In the last five years, Ramdev is said to have built a huge business empire of over 30 companies. His key aide, Acharya Balakrishna , is said to hold the key to most of them.

Besides the income tax department, the Enforcement Directorate will also examine these companies, the sources said.

The companies are affiliated to Ramdev's Patanjali Yogpeeth and Divya Yog Mandir trusts .
These trusts in Hardwar, according to the sources, had a combined turnover of some Rs.1,100 crore in 2009-10.

The broadcasting company that owns Aastha TV -- a religious channel -- is also affiliated to the trusts.

Jaideep Arya, national co-coordinator of the Patanjali Yogapeeth, said the government was simply attempting to divert attention from the issues related to corruption that Ramdev had highlighted.
"It is hogwash. The government is doing such things to divert people's attention. Now they can lay any blame (on him)," he said.

But official sources say they are serious.
Ramdev also reportedly owns an island off the coast of Scotland , which can become taxable if the proposed direct tax code comes into effect in India.

The latest development comes shortly after Ramdev's showdown with the government, leading to the police evicting him and his supporters from the heart of Delhi.

Ramdev has demanded death penalty for corrupt politicians and officials and the seizure of black money stashed away abroad by rich Indians.

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I Will declare my assets today: Baba Ramdev

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev has said that he will declare his assets on Thursday evening, after allegations of running a huge empire of Rs 1100 crore.

Ramdev has been accused of grabbing fertile farmland. Local residents including farmers launched a signature campaign against Baba Ramdev, and the Haridwar DM report says no land has been allotted to the baba, a defence that Ramdev had been citing.

Over 200 businesses from broadcasting companies including Aastha TV to food parks are run by his trusted lieutenants Acharya Balkrishna and Mukta Anand, according to reports. There are no specific charges against them that the finance ministry is looking at but a detailed income tax survey is currently being done.

Even Hindu spiritual leaders want Ramdev's assets probed.

Baba Ramdev has also been accused of stamp duty evasion. Ramdev owes the exchequer Rs 58 lakh, says the Haridwar SDM, in not one or two, but a total of 16 orders. In fact he had ordered attachment proceedings in August last year.

Ramdev's aide Balkrishna is also under scrutiny. The Uttarakhand Intelligence Bureau confirmed that Balkrishna, the right hand man of yoga guru Baba Ramdev may have violated the Arms Act. The Prime Minister's office has ordered a probe in the case.

Balkrishna is a citizen of Nepal, but he claimed he was born in Haridwar. His passport number A S 245797 from the Bareilly passport office needs to be investigated under the Passport Act, says the report to the State Police Chief.

Ramdev, however, said that he has always supported law in the country and have never spoken about breaking the law.

He also said that there are many things he has to do before he breaks his fast against corruption and black money. "Till the time my goal is not achieved, I will continue the fast. Whether I live or die, I will support the cause," Ramdev said.

Doctors advised liquid intake to Ramdev and requested him to end his fast soon after health started deteriorating as his fast for tougher anti-graft laws and bringing back black money from foreign nations, continued in Haridwar.

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Ramdev arrested: Opposition slams police crackdown on Ramdev, BJP targets PM, Sonia

The entire opposition today slammed the police action against Baba Ramdev's hunger strike as a "shameful" chapter in India's democracy with the main opposition party accusing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi of ordering the crackdown.
BJP announced it would hold protests acrossthe country against corruption and "police brutality" against Ramdev and his followers.
"The incident that took place yesterday at midnight at the Ramlila ground is one that has blemished democracy. Those people were protesting against corruption and black money through democratic means. But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi ordered the atrocities on these people," BJP President Nitin Gadkari said in Lucknow.
In Delhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said the police action was carried out at the directions of the Prime Minister and had the "full approval" of the Congress President.
"This is not democracy...the police cannot alone had taken such a step. It had the approval of the Prime Minister and full approval of the Congress President," Swaraj said.
Her counterpart in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley said while government refuses to takeaction against separatist leaders like Syed Ali Shah Geelani who held a programme in the capital, it took action against a "patriotic sanyasi".
In Patna, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar described the use of 'brute force' to evict Ramdev and his supporters as a "major blowto democracy".
"It is a major blow to democracy and an attack on the democractic rights of the people ... It is also an attack on the fundamental rights of the citizens," Kumar said.
"As many as four central ministers and top officials were holding parleys with Ramdev for several days and reverentially describing him as 'Baba'. What compelled the government to change its tactics and take extreme actions against the protesters?" he said.

Govt justifies police action against Ramdev

Government today justified policeaction to end Ramdev’s agitation saying the Yoga Guruhad violated the undertaking for permission and had even backed out on his assurances.

Union Minister Kapil Sibal, who was holding negotiations with Ramdev over the last few days, said there were apprehensions about law and order situation in Delhi as Ramdev had collected 50,000 people for “political aasan” although he had sought permission for a yoga camp for a gathering of 5,000 only. “It was not a Yoga platform, but a political platform.The law and order had to be enforced in Delhi.

We did not want any disruptions in that,” he told reporters.

To a question, he said the party and the governmentwere united on the police action.“Absolutely 100 per cent. No such action takes place without 100 per cent unity in thegovernment and the party,” the minister said. He rejected BJP’s allegations that the crackdown was reminiscent of Emergency.

Sibal alleged that Ramdev was in league withthe RSS as he referred to the presence of Sadvi Ritambhara in his protest. The Union Minister said Ramdev was not a trustworthy person as he had “cheated” the government and also his followers. “He reached an agreement with the government but didnot tell it to his followers,” Sibal said. He said government and Ramdev had reached an understanding as per which the Yoga Guru was supposed to announce calling off his strike by yesterday afternoon, but he did not honour the commitment. “Despite assurances he did not make the announcement.We were in touch with him over phone. We waited till 5 pm.When he did not give statement we decided to go to press. We told him that,” Sibal explained, referring to making public the letter written by one of his close associate. “If he backs out, how will we trust him,” the minister questioned.