Rajiv Dixit facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rajiv Dixit
Born	30 November 1967 (1967-11-30) Nah in Aligarh district
Died	30 November 2010(2010-11-30) (aged 43) Chhattisgarh, India

Rajiv Dixit (30 November 1967 – 30 November 2010) was an Indian activist who promoted Ayurveda, opposed modern medicine and was notable for spreading disinformation.

He was the national secretary of Bharat Swabhiman Andolan trust. His death has been deemed mysterious.

Career

Dixit founded the "Azadi Bachao Andolan" (Save Freedom Movement) in the early 1990s as a campaign to protect Indian industries, at a time when multi-national corporations were increasing their presence in India as a part of a trend towards globalisation. An aide to Ramdev, Dixit served as the national secretary of Ramdev's anti-corruption organisation Bharat Swabhiman Andolan.

During his career as an activist, Dixit demanded decentralisation of the Indian taxation system, stating that the existing system was the core reason for bureaucratic corruption. He claimed that 80 percent of tax revenue was used to pay the salaries of politicians and bureaucrats and compared the modern budget system of the Indian government to the earlier British budget system in India.

Noted for pioneering the trend of disinformation in India, Dixit had made a number of false claims. He falsely claimed that Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Edwina Mountbatten and Jawaharlal Nehru were all class-mates, and studied at "Harris College in London". However, no such college exists and there was a big age gap between Jinnah, Mountbatten and Nehru. Similarly, Dixit had falsely claimed that Rabindranath Tagore had written the song ‘Jana Gana Mana’ as a tribute to King George V in 1913 and Tagore was awarded with the Nobel Prize, contrary to the fact that Tagore won the Nobel Prize in 1911 and R. Chaudhary was the writer of a different song written as a tribute to George V.

He promoted Ayurveda and opposed modern medicine. He recommended cow urine for pregnant women for experiencing effortless delivery.

Death

Dixit died on 30 November 2010 in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh. After a lecture at Bemetra in Durg, he was accompanied by Daya Sagar, a local Bharat Swabhiman Andolan officer, while driving to Bhilai. During the trip he felt uncomfortable and sweated. At Daya Sagar's residence, he fell down in the bathroom. Initially he insisted on not going to the doctor. After a call from Baba Ramdev, he was first taken to Sector 9 Hospital in Bhilai and then transferred to the BSR Apollo Hospital. According to Dr. Dilip Ratnani, he died of a massive heart attack at night between 1 and 2 AM. On 1 December, his body was sent by air to Aligarh without an autopsy. His body was displayed at Patanjali Yogapita and later cremated with mukhagni lit by his brother Pradip Dixit and Baba Ramdev. Later the Prime Minister's Office ordered an investigation into his death in 2019.

There is a belief among his followers that he was poisoned to death because of his movement against multinational companies in India and other countries. Some of his supporters claimed foul play by Baba Ramdev, but Ramdev dismissed the claims.

See also