Don’t Mess With Ebola: Did The Hindu Fabricate The Ramdev Story?

Did The Hindu run a completely false story on Ramdev claiming to have found the cure for Ebola?

WrittenBy:Arunabh Saikia
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What do Chetan Bhagat, Yo Yo Honey Singh and Baba Ramdev have in common (apart from the fact that they’re all supremely successful men)? The Indian media  – particularly the English-speaking section – loves to hate them.  Add to that the fact that the third name on the list – Ramdev – is unapologetically homophobic and in terms of picking sides, has chosen to be on the far right at least on social issues: every liberal’s tailor-made punching bag.

So when The Hindu’s Delhi edition carried a story today, “Ramdev claims cure for Ebola”, according to which “Yoga guru Baba Ramdev has put out an advertisement offering ‘a health pack’ for preventing Ebola virus”, it was just the kind of news that would make any liberal’s day. The story, to no one’s surprise, got generously shared. It was almost that ultimate certificate of a man’s loony-ness for a set of people who had have already declared him loony.

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Their joy was to be short-lived though.  Ramdev took to Twitter and refuted the story; he even berated Gupta for not checking his facts despite being a senior journalist.

So what exactly happened? Did the reporter cook up the story? Well, to go so far as to say he concocted it might be a touch harsh, but it was definitely a case of careless reporting. Evidently, the primary source of the reporter was this website – http://www.ramdevmedicine.com, which sells Ramdev’s products. A certain post on the website (now removed) seems to have carried a post selling packages for Ebola cure.

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But then what goes up on the Internet stays forever – the link, though removed since, continues to have a cache version.

The website currently has a disclaimer at the bottom that clearly states:

“This website is not an official website of Swami Ramdev and Divya pharmacy or PatanjaliYogPeeth, Haridwar. It is a health information website. Authenticity and genuinety of the information mentioned on the above page is purely at the user discretion. We don’t claim any cure, relief and other authenticity of the medical and health conditions that are mentioned on the above page. It is always recommended that users of this website should always consult their physician prior to use of this information and products. The products and information listed above is not being evaluated by US FDA. This Website is presented purely at our personal experience and hence we don’t take any responsibility of any sort.”

So, was the disclaimer put as an afterthought post the story?  Or was the disclaimer not as prominent as it is now? For that is the only justification that The Hindu could possibly have for carrying a story on its first page without any quotes or confirmation from the party concerned. After all, The Hindu is a serious newspaper.

Well, not really. The cache version of the website does carry the disclaimer. And it is exactly at the same place as it is now.

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We contacted The Hindu for a response. The Managing Editor directed us to Associate Editor Nirupama Subramanian. Subramanian said that the Chennai edition of the paper didn’t carry the story. Fair enough, but is news restricted to region in the digital age? The story has been online for more than 18 hours now and according to its own website, it has been shared almost a 1000 times on social media.

If the primary source of the story is one website, the authenticity of which is suspect, The Hindu seems to have erred. The desk should have cross checked and not gone ahead with the story just for the sake of bashing Ramdev, as seems to be the case now.

However, the story isn’t over yet. Ramdev may just find a cure for Ebola.

We certainly hope it’s better than his cure for homosexuality.

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