Pune doctor waylaid in Delhi, forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’

A Pune-based doctor and author on Tuesday said he was confronted by a group of youth in New Delhi and asked to chant 'Jai Shri Ram'.

Dr Arun Gadre said the incident took place near Connaught Place on Sunday when he was out on a morning walk.

Gadre was staying at the YMCA near Jantar Mantar and was scheduled to go to Bijnor to attend an event organised by the Indian Medical Association the same day.

"I was taking a morning walk at around 6 am near YCMA and suddenly a group of youth confronted me and asked me to chant 'Jai Shri Ram'. As I was taken aback, I just said it.

However, they insisted that I chant it loudly and asked me 'uncle are you not Hindu'," Gadre said.

Gadre said he initially thought that the incident was 'a little funny' and did not report it to police.

“He [Dr. Gadre] was staying at the YMCA near Jantar Mantar as he was due to deliver a lecture organized by Indian Medical Association at Bijnor the next day. When he left for his morning stroll, he was accosted by a gang of five-six youth near the Hanuman Temple in Connaught Place. They surrounded him, asked him what religion he was and finally demanded that he chant ‘Jai Shri Ram,” said senior journalist, Anant Bagaitkar, to whom Dr Gadre later narrated the incident, reported The Hindu

Gadre, who had a bypass surgery recently, was “shocked and scared”. Issuing a late evening response on reaching Pune on Monday, Dr Gadre downplayed the incident as “trivial”, said Bagaitkar.

The youth did not hurt him and that is why he did not register any police complaint, Gadre said.

He said he later told a journalist friend about what happened.

Gadre has co-authored a book about malpractices in the medical field and solutions to improve communication between doctors and patients.

with PTI inputs