INDIA, March 9, 2021 (Money Life by Saket Hishikar): On 23 February 2021, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) came down heavily on Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Union minister of health for endorsing or perhaps for releasing the research work on Patanjali’s Coronil for treatment of COVID-19 infection. The attack was particularly sharp but, at the same time, IMA’s press release raised some tough questions. As a general observation, to an ordinary person like this author, who has great regard for both systems of medicine, an attack on Ayurveda is quite baffling. This brings us to more critical questions: what has shaped the thinking of the public on modern medicine in India and why is there such contempt or scepticism for the indigenous system, which, in conjunction with yoga, is an important part of India’s soft power projection.
The Allopathic system in India has colonial origins and its present position of dominance is a product of medical discourse which occupied an extremely important place in the entire process of colonization of India. This discourse took shape over a hundred years, between 1800s to 1920–a period which not just marked the ascendency of the British in the sub-continent, but also witnessed the ravaging impact of epidemics and pandemic on Indian population. In the atmosphere of repeated disease outbreaks, making money out of the diseases was a profitable enterprise, which made stamping European supremacy over indigenous medicine a top priority. The idea of making profit from human suffering that the British implanted has today made the dominant system unethical and way beyond the means of common man. Thus, it is imperative that the government creates a level playing field, as Ayurveda can offer treatment of many common ailments at one fiftieth the price of allopathic medicine.
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