Thaindian News

Haridwar, June 7 (IANS) Yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s close aide Acharya Balkrishna Tuesday rubbished the Congress’ claims that he was a Nepali citizen and had forged an Indian passport, terming the comments a “cruel joke”.

“I was born in Haridwar and was educated here. I’ve done all my research work here and would die here too. There are 1.5 crore just like me who are staying in this country,” Balkrishna told reporters here.

“My parents are from Nepal but they gave birth to me in India, I am a legal citizen of this country, according to the constitution. Why can’t people deal with this fact? It is a cruel joke,” he added.

The Congress had accused Balkrishna of being a Nepalese criminal who had sought asylum in India.

“Balkrishna Acharya, who is seen alongside Ramdev, is a citizen of Nepal and a criminal who sought asylum in India. There should be an inquiry into how he managed to get an Indian passport,” party general secretary Digvijay Singh had said.

On Digvijay Singh, Balakrishna said: “People who are jobless and have been rejected by people many times, their accusations do not bother me.”

Meanwhile, speaking on the post-midnight crackdown Saturday on Baba Ramdev and his supporters at Delhi’s Ramlila Ground, Balkrishna said: “Democracy was attacked that night but we will continue to fight till our last breath. Crores of Indians have stood up today and are ready to give up their lives for the cause.”

Using batons and lobbing tear gas shells, hundreds of police personnel had swooped down on the Ramlila Ground just after Saturday midnight to forcefully evict Ramdev and his upporters who were agitating at the site against corruption and black money stashed abroad.

Reacting to allegations that Ramdev had fled from the spot, Balakrishna said: “They are saying Baba fled from the ground. That is a farce because they wanted to kill him and when they did not succeed, they are making such allegations.”

“I was hiding inside as I wanted to help those who were assaulted mercilessly. I would have never forgiven myself if I had left those alone who were suffering at the hands of the police,” he added.

Balakrishna was missing since late Saturday night after the police crackdown and surfaced Tuesday at Ramdev’s ashram in Haridwar.

–Indo-Asian news Service
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