‘Quit India’ movement gained momentum on Tuesday against Ramdev as Patanjali founder’s anti-Periyar remarks dominated proceedings in parliament on Tuesday. If this was not enough, Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad warned Ramdev of consequences for his insulting remarks against Periyar.
Dalit activists and social media users have been incensed by Ramdev’s comments calling social reformer Periyar and supporters of Dr BR Ambedkar ‘intellectual terrorists.’ Social media users trended #रामदेवभारतछोड़ो (Ramdev Quit India) hashtag on Twitter on Tuesday. This coincided with DMK raising Ramdev’s controversial comments in the parliament.
DMK MP in Lok Sabha, S Senthilkumar, expressed his condemnation for Ramdev’s remarks and added that the image of a reformist like Periyar must not be distorted. Senthilkumar said that Periyar had fought for social equality and woman empowerment.
On Twitter, angry users trended one more adverse hashtag targeting Ramdev after trending four damaging hashtags on the microblogging site over the weekend.
Ramdev is working inappropriately to influence our democratic elections through his #yoga and #swadeshi campaign. He is blatantly lying to his audience to boost bjp’s winning prospects. He is selling substandard products at high prices to generate funds for bjp. #रामदेवभारतछोड़ो pic.twitter.com/sWDE2csz4W
— Nitin Meshram (@nitinmeshram_) November 19, 2019
Periyar was an social activist, and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement. He is known as the ‘Father of the Dravidian Movement’. He has done exemplary work against Brahminical dominance, caste prevalence and women oppression in India
Radev who r u ?#रामदेवभारतछोड़ो pic.twitter.com/gnGf5Qri14
— The Dalit Voice (@ambedkariteIND) November 19, 2019
Great Periyar admonishing delinquent Ramdev, nice one @amitamrit0 #रामदेवभारतछोड़ो pic.twitter.com/pebUBHbnAf
— Nitin Meshram (@nitinmeshram_) November 19, 2019
@BhimArmyChief भाई चंद्रशेखर आजाद ने ये नया ट्रैंड दिया है. मैं सहमत हूं.
जो संविधान को नहीं मानता, वो जाए, कहीं और चला जाए. इस मैसेज को वायरल कीजिए.
ट्रैंड कीजिए.
#रामदेवभारतछोड़ो pic.twitter.com/oc20ZVzWoY
— Prof. Dilip Mandal (@dilipmandal) November 19, 2019
@BhimArmyChief भाई चंद्रशेखर आजाद ने ये नया ट्रैंड दिया है. मैं सहमत हूं.
जो संविधान को नहीं मानता, वो जाए, कहीं और चला जाए. इस मैसेज को वायरल कीजिए.
ट्रैंड कीजिए.
#रामदेवभारतछोड़ो pic.twitter.com/oc20ZVzWoY
— Prof. Dilip Mandal (@dilipmandal) November 19, 2019
Dalit leader Chandra Shekhar Azad issued a chilling warning against Ramdev asking him to brace himself to go to jail. He urged Dalit supporters to boycott Patanjali products. “This country will not run by Brahmin ideology. This country will be run by the constitution. The constitution says that you will have to go to jail when you say something wrong.”
This comes days after Dalit supporters trended hashtags such as #Ramdev_Insults_Periyar and #ArrestRamdev.
Periyar, often dubbed as the South Indian Socrates, was an atheist and helmed social reforms by working against caste discrimination. The noted Dravidian patriarch had famously said that those who invented the notion of god were fools.
As for Ambedkar, he’s arguably one of the biggest Dalit icons and was the architect of the Indian constitution.