Ramdev cleared after detention at Heathrow

New Delhi/London: The United Kingdom’s Immigration Department on Saturday gave a clean-chit to yoga guru Baba Ramdev after questioning him for two days at London’s Heathrow Airport.
“The Immigration Department has returned my visa with full respect. One of the UK Members of Parliament here and NRIs living here helped me to get my visa back,” Ramdev told a Hindi news channel.
But in a sensational claim, Ramdev claimed that British officials had received a red alert notice against him. He also pointed a finger toward the Indian government for his “illegal” detention in London. “When I reached Heathrow Airport yesterday, the Immigration Department stopped me and said they have received a red alert notice against me. I asked about the reason for the red alert since I haven’t done anything immoral and illegal ever. But they did not give me any explanation as to why I was being detained,” Ramdev said.
While asked that a red alert notice is issued only against terrorists, Ramdev said, “Yesterday I was detained for eight hours but was not asked a single question. May be the Indian government tried to misguide the immigration department here. And this was the reason behind my detention.”
In response to a question, Ramdev admitted that he was in London on a visitor’s visa. British Customs officials had stopped Baba Ramdev for over eight hours on Friday. Reports said that Baba was stopped because he arrived on a visitor’s visa instead of a business visa, which he must have to preach yoga. He had arrived in London to attend a function organized by the Patanjali Yogpeeth on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of Swami Vivekanand.
Meanwhile, criticizing the detention of Ramdev at London’s Heathrow Airport, his spokesman SK Tijarawala said that the incident is an insult to India, its dress code and traditions. “That, it is an insult to the whole of India. This is simply a case of an insult of the Indian language, Indian attire and Indians. He (Baba Ramdev) carried four pair of clothes and a book of mantras and Vedas in Sanskrit. They didn’t give any reason for the detention. No Indian should be insulted and detained this way,” he said.
In Lucknow, police say they have arrested four state opposition lawmakers for allegedly inciting clashes between Hindus and Muslims that killed 48 people early this month in northern India.
Senior police officer R.K. Vishwakarma says the four, who are members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the regional Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), have been charged with delivering hate-filled speeches against Muslims.
Police officer Arun Kumar says both sides have blamed the other for starting the violence in which guns, swords, stones or knives were used in the killings.



The clashes were sparked in and around the town of Muzaffarnagar by the killing of three villagers who had objected when a young woman was being harassed.