In a recent development, yoga guru and Patanjali founder Baba Ramdev faced a wave of controversy surrounding an undated video circulating on social media. The video allegedly captures Ramdev making statements about his Brahmin identity, triggering backlash and the initiation of the hashtag “#boycottpatanjali” on social media platforms.
In the video, Baba Ramdev is heard asserting his Brahmin lineage and responding to claims of being categorized as OBC. “My original gotra is Brahma gotra. I am an Agnihotri Brahmin… I am a Vedi Brahmin, Dwivedi Brahmin, Trivedi Brahmin, Chaturvedi Brahmin — I have read four Vedas,” he purportedly stated in the video.
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Baba Ramdev, in response to the controversy, denied making such statements and clarified, “I have never said anything as such. I was talking about Owaisi. He and his predecessors have always had anti-national thinking. I don’t take him seriously.”
The incident has fueled online protests with the hashtag #boycottpatanjali gaining momentum, as individuals express their dissatisfaction and criticize Ramdev for the alleged insult aimed at the backward community. Concurrently, Asaduddin Owaisi, responding on his X account, shared retweets countering Ramdev’s statements and claiming a distortion of his original remarks. Also, Mohammed Zubair (ALT News) tweeted both videos on X (Twitter).
The controversy raises questions about responsible discourse and the impact of statements made by influential figures on social harmony.