‘Sharbat Jihad’ controversy: Haven’t mentioned anyone’s name, justifies Baba Ramdev
New Delhi: Yoga guru Baba Ramdev has defended his recent controversial ‘sharbat jihad’ comment, stating he did not name any specific brand or community in his statement.
Ramdev has been greatly criticized for saying earlier this week that a company selling sharbat was using the income to build mosques and madrasas. He had also called it ‘sharbat jihad’. Ramdev had made the comment even as he was marketing Patanjali Ayurved’s ‘Gulab Sharbat’.
Defending his statement, the yoga guru said on Friday that the Hamdard company people, who produce ‘Rooh Afza’, had assumed that the phrase ‘sharbat jihad’ was about them. “This proves they are indulging in jihad,” Ramdev has said, according to a report by the Times of India.
He said that, if the employees of the company were dedicated to Islam and were building mosques and madrasas, they should be happy. He also asked the ‘Sanatanis’ to understand the situation.
Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh had filed a complaint against Ramdev, accusing the yoga guru of making the ‘sharbat jihad’ statement and attempting to incite communal disharmony in order to boost the sales of Patanjali Ayurved’s products. The MP had called the statement ‘not just defamatory but also unconstitutional’.
Ramdev was also criticized by several social media users, who opined the statement to be communal.
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Dense fog envelops Delhi-NCR; air quality remains 'very poor'
New Delhi (PTI): Dense fog enveloped large parts of Delhi-NCR on Thursday morning, significantly reducing visibility and disrupting traffic across the region.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), dense fog conditions prevailed over the city based on the 6 am observation. Visibility at Palam Airport dropped sharply to 150 metres, while Safdarjung Airport reported visibility of 200 metres.
The dense fog affected road traffic in several areas, with vehicles seen moving slowly on major arterial roads and highways connecting Delhi with neighbouring cities, such as Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Noida. Morning commuters faced delays as low visibility prompted motorists to exercise caution.
According to the officials, the current visibility at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Palam is 100 metres. General visibility is expected to increase to 150 metres in the next 30 minutes and will gradually improve thereafter. No further reductions are expected.
Weather officials said foggy conditions are likely to persist during early mornings in the coming days as winter intensifies. The IMD has forecast dense fog on Thursday and Friday.
Meanwhile, air quality in the national capital remained in the 'very poor' category, with the air quality index (AQI) recorded at 358, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
On the weather front, the minimum temperature in the national capital settled at 9.0 degrees Celsius, which is 0.9 notches above the season's average. The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 23 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.
The relative humidity was recorded at 100 per cent at 8.30 am.
As per the CPCB classification, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor' and 401 to 500 'severe'.
