'Godman to Tycoon': Book on Baba Ramdev in legal trouble
A Delhi court has restrained the publication and sale of 'Godman to Tycoon: The Untold Story of Baba Ramdev', said its publisher. The book is authored by Priyanka Pathak-Narain and published by Juggernaut Books. Reportedly, Amazon and Flipkart have been barred from selling the book too. But Juggernaut stands by its book. "We will move the court to vacate the injunction," it said.
The birth of the idea behind the book
Pathak-Narain, who won the CNN Young Journalist Award in 2007 for her coverage of the Sethusamudram project and covered the 'business of religion' for Mint, says the idea of a book on Ramdev seemed "promising". "I had followed Ramdev's rise ten years ago when I was at Mint," she said. What she had expected was to discover a rags-to-riches tale, but found much more.
Baba Ramdev, from the author's viewpoint
The book traces the history of Baba Ramdev - once upon a time a sickly, isolated and obese child, and now the owner of a Rs. 10,000cr company. According to the book, Patanjali Ayurved, founded in 2006, capitalized on nationalist sentiments, sticking a 'swadeshi' label to traditional capitalist items and practices. In Pathak-Narain's observation, he runs his company like a 'gurukul'.
The author makes serious allegations
In Patanjali, employees don't work, but do 'sewa': they sit below their 'guru' in meetings. Asking for raises is frowned upon. Patanjali's products are questionable too: its amla juice failed quality tests, and products don't mention traces of human and animal bones as ingredients despite Ayush confirming their presence. There have also been mysterious disappearances or deaths of persons connected to him.
In the words of the author
"I don't know about (Ramdev) getting away (with malpractices), but he certainly wears an armor," Pathak-Narain says. Asked if she was worried about a potential fallout of the book, she says, "I'd be naive if I weren't worried about it."
A defiant Juggernaut stands firm behind its book
Meanwhile, Juggernaut says the court passed the restraining order without giving a chance to either the publisher or the author to speak. The manuscript was vetted by en expert before publication, it claims. "It contains a detailed 25-page note on sources that lists the interviews, articles, police reports and RTI replies," Juggernaut argues. How the case goes remains to be seen.
