NEW DELHI: Tens of thousands of followers of a graft-fighting Indian yoga guru gathered in New Delhi yesterday in a fresh demonstration against corruption.
About 40,000 supporters turned out at the Ramlila ground in central New Delhi as the saffron-clad Baba Ramdev began an “indefinite” protest to highlight “rampant” graft.
Ramdev has a huge national following as his morning TV yoga shows attract millions of viewers.
His main demand is that the government repatriate so-called “black money” or cash in foreign bank accounts suspected of being used for bribes or other illegal transactions.
“We have not come here to ask anything in charity. We have come to demand that the illegal money stashed abroad be brought back so that millions of Indians can get social and economic justice,” Ramdev said to wide applause.
The audience, comprising mainly people from the rural belt around the capital, were in a festive mood, with many carrying colourful banners and giant Indian flags.
“Coming here is a small gesture of showing that we are together with Ramdev in his fight to rid the country of corruption,” said 57-year-old Lalita Moorthy, who had flown in from the far-flung Andaman Islands.
Moorthy and her husband planned to “camp” at the protest venue for at least a week to show solidarity with their “brothers and sisters” from the rest of the country.
Ramdev, famed for his yoga moves including an ability to roll his stomach and walk on his hands, saw his rally at the same venue last year come to an abrupt end after a midnight raid by the police.
The wiry, long-haired guru, born to illiterate peasant parents in the northern state of Haryana in the 1960s, says he began practicing yoga at the age of nine and was able to overcome partial paralysis of his body.
Since then, he has built a global yoga empire that stretches from India to a remote island in Scotland, with declared revenues since 1995 of 11 billion rupees ($245 million).
He has joined hands with Anna Hazare, another popular anti-corruption activist who tapped into widespread anger last year following a string of scandals involving the government and the ruling Congress party.
Ramdev's rallies are increasingly political and directed against the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but he insists he has no intention of entering politics.
Hazare's movement announced last week that it intended to contest Parliamentary seats in upcoming elections in 2014.
