http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Flouting-swadeshi-policy--Baba-s-ashram-flaunts-foreign-brands/802478/
Flouting swadeshi policy, Baba’s ashram flaunts foreign brands *ManojCG* Posted online: Sun Jun 12 2011, 02:23 hrs *Haridwar : *“EXCEPT for aeroplanes”, Baba Ramdev uses only “100 per cent swadeshi products”, says a booklet brought out by his trust, exhorting his followers to copy his example. >From toothpaste to soap, cars, readymade apparel, shoes, televisions and mobile phones, the publication lists all the foreign brands which should be boycotted, and the corresponding Indian products that should be used instead. For instance, Wrangler, Nike, Adidas and Puma should be boycotted in favour of Park Avenue, Oxemburg, Bombay Dyeing, Ruff and Tuff, Trigger Jeans and Patanjali Vastram; Titan, HMT, Maxima, Prestige and Ajanta should be preferred over Rado, Rolex, Swissco and Seiko. The list also covers pens, pencils, soft drinks, coffee, tea, cement, oil and health products. And yet, neither the Baba’s Patanjali Yogpeeth headquarters nor his most devoted followers seem to have any respect for the ‘boycott’ list. So, televisions installed in the plush apartments at the ashram are either Sony or Samsung, both of which are in the list of foreign brands to be boycotted. As the yoga guru fasted through the week, his aides put up two big LCD screens to show the proceedings live. One was a Samsung, the other Philips. Most ACs at the ashram are made by Samsung. Ramdev’s trusted media manager S K Tijarawala carries a Blackberry, his shadow Swami Sampoornanand a Samsung, and Ramdev’s personal security-in-charge Sudhir, a Blackberry and a Nokia. All brands in the ‘boycott list’. Swadeshi is the essence of Ramdev’s Bharat Swabhimaan campaign. “Mahatma Gandhi adopted swadeshi and shook the financial system of the British... It is time (again) to adopt swadeshi and save the nation,” goes the campaign. “If we use swadeshi, our money would remain with the country... Not a single son of Mother India would sleep hungry,” says an article in Yog Sandesh, a magazine brought out by Divya Yog Mandir Trust. And then, there is a final point, crucial to the health of the Baba’s business empire: “Even in swadeshi, first prefer products of rural domestic industries over other domestic industries... (And) even in domestic products, preference has to be given to ashram-made products as it gives the best available ingredients and medicines... and at minimum prices.” -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
