The Uttar Pradesh state government has recommended books by Yogi Adityanath and Baba Ramdev to be included in the academic curriculum. This recommendation has been made to the University Grants Commission (UGC) as well.
Yogi Adityanath’s ‘Hathyoga Ka Swaroop Va Sadhna’ and Ramdev’s ‘Yog Sadhna Va Yog Chikitsa Rahasya’ have already been included in the second-semester undergraduate philosophy curriculum of Chaudhary Charan Singh University (popularly known as Meerut University). These books have also been included to be a part of elective subjects taken by students studying other courses.
The pro-VC of the university, Prof Y Vimla was quoted by TOI, saying, “We had a Board of Studies meeting on philosophy recently in which it was decided that the works of Yogi Adityanath and Ramdev would be included in the syllabus.”
“The two books have been recommended by the state government and been endorsed by the board of studies of the university,” Dr NC Lohani, a member of the board committee and head of the department of Hindi Arts, said.
The Print reported that a member of the syllabus development committee, who did not wish to be named, said that the books have been chosen for their “high literary value”.
“All the books were chosen to be there because of their high academic and literary value. Some are suggested readings and some are a part of the credit-based course,” the member told The Print.
These books will be taught alongside books by famous philosophers like Plato and Aristotle.
Recently, Ramdev was in controversy for mocking modern medicine.
“Allopathy is a stupid, lame science. First, hydroxychloroquine failed. Then, Remdesivir, Ivermectin, and plasma therapy failed. Other antibiotics including Fabiflu and steroids too failed,” Baba Ramdev said.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on May 27, filed a complaint against Ramdev for his comments. The IMA also served a defamation notice on Ramdev for alleged disparaging remarks against allopathy and allopathic doctors, demanding an apology from him within 15 days, failing which it said it will demand compensation of Rs 1,000 crore from the yoga guru.