Ramdev later said he did not name any specific company or brand while saying so
The Delhi high court slammed Ramdev, the founder and yoga guru of Patanjali. This was after the latter allegedly called Hamdard’s Rooh Afza as “Sharbad Jihad”. The former called the comment “indefensible” and something which “shocks the conscience of the court”.
The strong observation was from Justice Amit Bansal. This was while hearing the suit filed by Hamdard Laboratories against Ramdev. The company made accusations against him of making derogative and communal comments against their products.
On April 3, Ramdev had targeted Hamdard’s Rooh Afza. He charged the pharmaceutical and food company of using their money to build masjids and madrasas. The company then approached the Delhi high court, reported Bar and Bench.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, standing for Hamdard, said, “This is a case which is shocking, which goes beyond disparagement. This is a case of creating communal divide, akin to hate speech. It will not have protection from law of defamation.”
“This should not be even allowed for a moment. We have enough problems in this country,” Bar and Bench quoted Mukul Rohatgi as saying.
The High Court passed the matter over and asked the counsel which would represent Ramdev to be present, as reported.
On Friday, Ramdev, while addressing the media, said that he did not take the name of any brand or company.
“I haven’t taken anybody’s name, but the Rooh Afza people took ‘sharbat jihad’ on themselves… this means they are doing this ‘jihad’,” Ramdev said.
He then said “If they are dedicated to Islam and are building masjids and madrasas, then they should be happy. However, the Sanatanis should understand… If someone has a problem with this, then let it be,”
Earlier, Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had gone to the police to register an FIR about Ramdev, accusing him of spreading religious hatred through his comment.
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