“I said Owaisi, not OBC…”: Baba Ramdev’s clarification on “I am Brahmin” controversy

Baba Ramdev: Controversy seems to be arising after a viral video of Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev. In this viral video of Ramdev, he is allegedly seen making remarks against Other Backward Classes (OBC). However, after the controversy arose, Ramdev came forward to clarify that in his statement he had targeted AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, his intention was not to insult the OBC community.

Reference was being made to ‘caste’ only, perhaps that’s why…

This video is becoming increasingly viral on social media. Actually, after listening to Ramdev in this video, it seems that he is commenting against the OBC community only, because in the context of the conversation, caste is being talked about. In the video, Ramdev is first calling himself a Brahmin and then ‘OBC’. However, when controversy arose over the video, Baba Ramdev had to come forward to give clarification.

Baba Ramdev’s clarification on video…

After controversy arose over the video, Baba Ramdev had to come before the media to give clarification. During this he said, “Look, my statement is being taken wrongly. I had said ‘Owaisi’, not ‘OBC’. His (Owaisi’s) descendants were anti-national. I do not take them seriously. Didn’t say anything about.”

VIDEO | "I said 'Owaisi' and not 'OBC'," says Ramdev in response to a media query whether he had made any remarks on 'OBC'. pic.twitter.com/oTyDOLTXQI

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 13, 2024

“Agnihotri Brahmin…my original gotra Brahma”

The viral video of the incident could not be independently verified by NDTV, but it reportedly shows Baba Ramdev declaring his Brahmin identity and listing various Brahmin gotras, including “Agnihotri Brahmin”. The yoga guru told, “My original Gotra is Brahma. I am Agnihotri Brahmin… People say Babaji is OBC… I am Vedi Brahmin, Dwivedi Brahmin, Trivedi Brahmin, Chaturvedi Brahmin, I have read four Vedas.”

बाबा पाखंडी रामदेव को सार्वजनिक मांफी मांगनी चाहिए,ओबीसी का अपमान करने का अधिकार तुम्हे किसने दिया,

तुम्हें जो करना है करिये इसमें ओबीसी
को घसीटना गलत है,#Boycott_Patanjali#बाबा_रामदेव_माफ़ी_मांगो https://t.co/2Ep9aSNWqd… https://t.co/d52LwxSAxP

— Sasikant Singh (@SASIKANTSINGH10) January 13, 2024

After the video went viral, many people protested on social media by writing ‘#boycottpatanjali’ and criticized Baba Ramdev for the alleged insult to the backward community.