2019 Video of Patanjali’s Balkrishna being treated in AIIMS passed off as his present condition - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 2, 2021
A video accompanied by a post is being widely shared on social media claiming that Patanjali’s Acharya Balkrishna’s health deteriorated recently, and he has been taken directly to the hospital by Baba Ramdev and was not given any product of Patanjali. This video comes in the backdrop of recent criticism by Baba Ramdev on Allopathy and doctors who practice allopathy. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of Patanjali’s Balkrishna admitted to hospital by Baba Ramdev recently.
Fact: The visuals in the video are from a 2019 YouTube video uploaded by ‘News360Live’ of Acharya Balkrishna being treated in AIIMS, Rishikesh. According to the then news articles, Balkrishna was brought to the emergency ward of AIIMS Rishikesh in a state of altered consciousness, a medical condition where the patient fails to recognise his/her immediate surroundings. Balkrishna was later discharged after all reports of his vital organs were found normal. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When reverse image search of the screenshots of the video was performed, we found a YouTube video uploaded by a channel named News360Live on 26 August 2019 which had similar visuals. The YouTube video was titled ‘Acharya Balkrishna of Patanjali Yogpeeth rushed to AIIMS’ and the description says that he was rushed to the ICU at AIIMS, Rishikesh. The voiceover in the video tells that Balkrishna was brought to the hospital in a state of altered consciousness, a medical condition where the patient fails to recognise his/her immediate surroundings.
Taking a cue from the YouTube video, we searched for any news articles related to the incident of Acharya Balkrishna being admitted to hospital. We then found several such articles published in the year 2019. One news article published on 24 August 2019 claims that Acharya Balkrishna was first taken to a hospital in Haridwar after he complained of giddiness and chest pain, and later taken to the emergency ward of AIIMS Rishikesh. According to the TOI article, Balkrishna was later discharged after reports of his vital organs were found normal, and Baba Ramdev claimed that it was a conspiracy and a toxic substance was given to him by mixing it in his food or water.
This viral video comes in the backdrop of Baba Ramdev’s statements that tens of thousands died of COVID-19 after taking modern medicines and mocked patients for trying to get oxygen cylinders. Baba Ramdev withdrew his statement after the health minister intervened. But he again took a swipe at modern medicine for not having a cure for some diseases.
However, when it comes to the health of Patanjali’s Acharya Balkrishna, there are no recent news articles claiming that his health deteriorated and was admitted to the hospital recently. He seems to be quite active on social media via his official Twitter account, Instagram account and YouTube account.
To sum it up, 2019 video of Patanjali’s Balkrishna being treated in AIIMS is being passed off as his present condition.