SHIMLA:
Stressing that yoga was a centuries-old Indian tradition, popular yoga guru
Swami Ramdev urged the government and yoga organisations to prevent it from
being patented overseas.
"Since
there are attempts to patent this tradition (of yoga) in America, the Indian
government and yoga organisations should take measures to prevent it," Ramdev
said.
"Yoga cannot be patented
as it belongs to the entire country and humanity. Also yoga cannot be run like a
company," he said late
Tuesday.
"I do not wish to name
any individual, but how can yoga be taught at a controlled 45 degrees centigrade
temperature when it is ideally taught in the cold Himalayas," Ramdev said,
referring to Indian-born Bikram Choudhary's method of teaching yoga. Choudhary
teaches this technique in California and has even reportedly patented this
method of yoga recently.
Ramdev
also criticised the Indian health ministry for "turning into an allopathy
ministry by promoting only allopathy and neglecting
ayurveda".
"The health ministry
must sort its own health first and stop sending regular notices to me," he
said.
"Around 10 per cent of
the population of India is suffering from diabetes. Yoga and ayurveda are one of
the most effective ways to cure this deadly
disease."
"We have carried out
studies at our centre by treating patients suffering from many kinds of cancer
through yoga and ayurveda. A book is being brought out by Patanjali Yogapeet
shortly as a documentary proof," he
claimed.
Ramdev is here to
conduct a yoga camp from May 17 to
22.
"Later this year I plan to
go to New York, New Jersey and Chicago in America besides other places in
Europe, the Gulf and Africa," he said.