Three decades ago, when I was a child, I tasted Rooh Afza sharbat (sweet drink) for the first time—and instantly fell in love with it. It was during the wedding of my maternal uncle’s son that I first drank it, and from that moment on, I became an instant fan. Marriage festivities, iftar gatherings, and the summer season all began to feel incomplete without the aromatic red delight of Rooh Afza. Whenever I got the chance to enjoy it, it would quench my thirst perfectly. Interestingly, I only came to know the brand name of the sweet red beverage much later.
Even in my wildest dreams, it never occurred to me to question whether the product was manufactured by a Muslim-owned company, nor did I ever think that, as a non-Muslim, I should prefer an alternative made by someone of my own faith. In a recent video circulated on social media, yoga guru and businessman Baba Ramdev can be heard calling on consumers to boycott a specific beverage, asserting that the proceeds from its sale are being used to finance madrasas and mosques. While he did not name the product explicitly, it is reasonably clear that his remarks were aimed at Rooh Afza. His appeal appeared to be strategically directed at the Hindu majority, invoking communal undertones.
Remember that Rooh Afza is a very popular product manufactured by the Muslim-owned company Hamdard in India. According to media reports, Rooh Afza’s annual turnover is in crores, with lakhs of bottles sold each year, forming a major share of the company’s revenue. The product is not only popular in India and other parts of South Asia, but it is also exported to West Asian regions.
The success of Hamdard stands in stark contrast to the economic marginalization of Indian Muslims. A significant portion of Muslims work as urban laborers, earning their livelihood amid systemic discrimination faced by the community. Ramdev is making a concerted effort to capture a substantial share of Rooh Afza’s market for his own product. If he succeeds in reducing Hamdard’s share in the sugary beverage market, it could result in a loss of livelihood for an already marginalized population. What’s most troubling, however, is that instead of competing through product quality and pricing, Ramdev is resorting to unethical business practices by attaching religious identity to the product—turning commerce into a tool for communal polarization.
Preparing the ground for the economic boycott of Muslims, Ramdev reportedly said in a video—as cited in a report by a news web portal (News18, April 12, 2025): “There’s a company that gives you sharbat, but the money it earns is used to construct madrasas and mosques.” He appealed to [Hindu] consumers, saying: “If you drink that sharbat, madrasas and mosques will be built. But if you drink this [Patanjali’s rose sharbat], gurukuls and Acharya Kulam will be built and developed, and Patanjali University will expand.”
Ramdev is notorious for making anti-minority statements and for playing the religious card. For example, in one of his videos related to a speech delivered on February 2, 2023 in Barmer, Rajasthan, Ramdev claimed that Muslims and Christians are “obsessed” with “conversion.” He didn’t stop there and went on to say: “Our Muslim brothers commit a lot of sins, but I have seen that they will definitely pray. Because that’s what they have been taught, just pray, do whatever else you want to do. They became terrorists, and a lot of them become criminals” (Wire, February 12, 2023).
This story was originally published in countercurrents.org. Read the full story here.