A purported video of yoga guru Ramdev has gone viral on social media in which he can be heard accusing Muslims of committing terrorist acts and abducting Hindu women. He claimed that Islam and Christianity were similar in their sole agenda of “converting” people to their respective religions.
"I am not criticising anyone but…some people are obsessed with converting the entire world to Islam and…Christianity," Ramdev said in a widely-circulated video.
According to a live video posted on Thursday on Ramdev’s Twitter account, the provocative comments were purportedly made at a religious gathering of seers in Barmer, Rajasthan on Thursday.
Continuing his tirade against Islam, he implied that Muslims believe offering namaz (religious prayer) five times a day will obliterate them of all kinds of sins like ‘terrorism and crime’. Drawing a parallel with Christianity, Ramdev said Christians also supposedly erase their sins by lighting a candle at church, while no such thing existed in Hinduism.
{{/usCountry}}Continuing his tirade against Islam, he implied that Muslims believe offering namaz (religious prayer) five times a day will obliterate them of all kinds of sins like ‘terrorism and crime’. Drawing a parallel with Christianity, Ramdev said Christians also supposedly erase their sins by lighting a candle at church, while no such thing existed in Hinduism.
{{/usCountry}}"Muslims offer namaz five times a day and then do whatever sin that comes to mind. They kidnap Hindu girls..become terrorists, and a lot of them are criminals.. Our Muslim brothers commit a lot of sins but they definitely offer namaz as they are taught to do so," he alleged at the congregation. He further compared it to Hinduism claiming that the religion and ‘Sanatan Dharma’ taught its followers to “do yoga, not indulge in violence, be early risers and engage in kind deeds by worshipping God”.
He also commented on how Muslims dressed, saying, “for them, heaven means wearing pyjamas over ankles, cutting their moustaches, and wearing their caps. I am not saying that the Quran or any Islam tells them to do this. But that’s how people are doing it”.
Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), a non-profit organisation dedicated to protection of human rights, on Friday condemned the derogatory statements as “attention-seeking” to fit in with “extremist” ideologies. The hate speech attacked Muslims and Christians to project Hinduism as the “best religion” and spread an “anti-Muslim narrative’, the organisation added.