Comments on: Baba Ramdev

By: Binoy Gupta

Binoy Gupta — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:31:16 +0000

I am reproducing a news report from India Today of today which clearly shows that
Balakrishna has two birth certificates, presumably used at different times for different purposes.

Both Baba Ramdeo, Balakrishna and all those who support them should publish all the documents on the internet for the world to see….

” Yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s key aide Balakrishna possesses two birth certificates — one procured from Haridwar in Uttarakhand and the other from Nepal — a Headlines Today investigation has found.

Both the birth certificates have major differences that raise serious doubts about the nationality claim of Balakrishna, who is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for possessing Indian passports based on “forged documents”.

The first certificate was issued in 1997 by Haridwar municipal body which shows his parents to be Indian. The second was issued in Nepal in 2006 showing his parents’ nationality as Nepalese.

Moreover, in 2005, after a local intelligence unit (LIU) report showed Balakrishna to be from Nepal, his guru Shankardev gave an affidavit to change his nationality to Nepalese.

Strangely, both the certificates show the permanent address of Balakrishna’s parents to be Kankhal Dadu Bagh in Haridwar. It adds a new twist to Balakrishna’s nationality controversy and raises question whether his birth certificate was deliberately changed after he became Ramdev’s right hand man.

Also, there were changes in the LIU report, mandatory for issuance of a passport.”

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/baba-ramdev-aide-balakrishna-possesses-2-birth-certificates/1/143041.html

By: Binoy Gupta

Binoy Gupta — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:21:12 +0000

27.06.11 – I was pleasantly surprised to see the interview of the Baba on TV today.
The reasons given by him for running away from the Ramleela Grounds is hardly convincing.
The entire episode was captured by the hundreds of media persons present.
It was clear that he jumped down into the crowd, and later ran away wearing a saree.
And his face after that episode was one of a terrified culprit running away from the law, not a Gandhi, who always offered himself to be arrested. That is what Satygraha is all about.

Coming to the passport of his 2nd in command is concerned…Baba said that a passport is issued only after verification by so many govt. agencies. That is true.
Yet, we have hundreds of cases of false passports, duplicate passports, etc.
The very govt. machinery, the Baba and others are accusing of corruption, help the criminals and others in getting passports on the basis of wrong details.

If there is nothing wrong about the passports, and the allegations are false, the Baba and his Ashram should publish copies of all the passports (if there are more than one), evidence of birth, details of schools, etc. on the net itself.
If there is any misgiving, it will be corrected.
If there is truth in the allegations, some persons may come forward to point out the falsehoods, if there are any.

The Govt. of India will certainly proceed with their investigations.
And if the passport has been obtained on the basis of false information,
the passport holder is heading for trouble.
Giving false information on the passport application form itself is an offence.

By: Binoy Gupta

Binoy Gupta — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:55:53 +0000

It is only the Baba who is claiming that his money is coming from clean people.
If black money is being used to prop him up,
or to further his cause, and he is fighting a crusade against the very same black money, God help us.
That is all I can say.

By: Sandeep Jalan

Sandeep Jalan — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 04:42:41 +0000

Sir, I beg to differ on your conclusion, not on your facts.

The donations may have been coming from tax evaders, but you will agree, the cause for which donation is received in for human development and national progress …..

Sandeep.

By: Binoy Gupta

Binoy Gupta — Sun, 29 May 2011 14:05:41 +0000

My personal view is that a Sannyasi is a person who has renounced the world.
In law, his status is civil death.
He should not indulge in politics or worldly materialistic things.
There are othere like Anna Hazare to deal with black money and money laundering.
But will a Lok Pal Bill alone work miracles and clean every bad thing ?
Karnataka has a Lok Ayukta Act.
Is corruption any less there ?
We already have far too many laws.
What we need honest is swift and honest implementation.

By: hemen parekh

hemen parekh — Wed, 25 May 2011 05:22:47 +0000

Baba Ramdev and Black Money

There is no doubt that a billion Indians will support Baba Ramdev in his campaign to bring back black money.

But even if he succeeds, new black money will replace the old black money !

You cannot cure a disease by treating its symptoms.

We must find a way to “ stop “ the generation of black money in the first place.

New finance minister of West Bengal, Dr. Amit Mitra recently confirmed that out of every rupee of revenue, 35 paise goes towards interest payment on state borrowings and 58 paise goes to pay salaries of Govt. staff, leaving a measly 7 paise for development.

So the honest tax-payer is asking :

“ When I pay the government, one rupee by way of tax, I get back only 7 paise worth of infrastructure / housing / education / healthcare etc. Then why pay taxes ? Why not finance these needs directly on my own – bypassing the tax authorities ? “

And this is true of nearly all the states of India.

My suggestion :

If a tax payer invests any amount into Govt approved Special Purpose Vehicles ( SPV ), solely devoted to create infrastructure / housing / education / healthcare etc, let that money be tax-free, with no questions asked as to its source. All the profits / dividends earned by an individual thru such investments must be made 100 % tax-free and forever .

Just imagine what an annual investment of $ 100 billion ( Rs.5 lakh crores ) on activities like these can do to our economy !

Within 5 years, it will pull-up 500 million people above the “ Poverty Line “.

My request to Baba Ramdev :

Please refocus your strategy. We are with you all-the-way.

With regards

hemen parekh