Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev has told a Delhi court that he will take down adverts in which he made controversial remarks about a rival firm’s drink, criticised by a judge as “indefensible”.
Ramdev alleged that some brands used their profits to build mosques and madrassas in a video promoting a sweet drink made by his company Patanjali.
He did not name the brand, but it was widely seen to be a reference to Rooh Afza, a popular drink made for more than a century by Hamdard Laboratories, an Islamic charitable organisation.
The video went viral, sparking outrage. Hamdard also filed a case, asking for the advertisements to be removed.
Rooh Afza is a non-alcoholic sweet drink in syrup form which is popular in South Asian countries, including India and Pakistan, and is usually referred to as sherbet. The syrup, introduced in 1906 by Hamdard, is usually mixed with milk or water and is very popular among Muslims breaking their fast during the month of Ramadan.
In the video, Ramdev also used the phrase “sherbet jihad” – a play on terms like “love jihad”, used by radical Hindu groups to accuse Muslim men of converting Hindu women by marriage. In this case, it is appears to be suggesting Muslims are profiting from money spent by Hindus.
On Tuesday, a judge in the Delhi high court criticised Ramdev’s remarks, calling them “indefensible”.
“It shocks the conscience of the court,” Justice Amit Bansal said, according to legal website LiveLaw.
The court also asked Ramdev to file an affidavit within five days, saying that he would not issue any such statements, advertisements, or social media posts in the future. The next hearing is on 1 May.
Hamdard lawyer Mukul Rohatgi said that the case went beyond criticism of a product and represented a “communal divide”. He also called Ramdev’s comments “hate speech”.
Rajiv Nayar, who represented Ramdev and Patanjali, said that his client was not against any religion and that the advertisements would be removed.
Ramdev shot to fame in the early 2000s with his televised yoga classes. He soon amassed a huge following and was praised for guiding people towards a healthy lifestyle.
In 2006, along with his close aide Acharya Balkrishna, Ramdev launched Patanjali Ayurveda to sell herbal medicines. The company now sells a range of products from flour and soaps to toothpastes and instant noodles.
This is not the first time the guru has come under fire from the courts.
Last year, the Indian Supreme Court ordered him to apologise for falsely claiming that his company’s products could “cure” serious illnesses.
The court also banned the ads, saying the yoga guru was spreading misinformation and misleading consumers with his remarks about modern medicine.
Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook.