Published 10:55 IST, June 1st 2020
Baba Ramdev joins 'Boycott Chinese Products' movement, shares video deleting Chinese apps
Baba Ramdev has also voiced support for the 'Boycott Chinese products' movement, stating that it is nothing less than ‘service to the nation'
Deleting Chinese applications from mobile phones has become the latest trend in India, as citizens pledge to join the ‘Boycott Chinese products’ movement, proposed by education reformer Sonam Wangchuk in light of the Covid pandemic.
In a recent development, Baba Ramdev, who as co-founder of Patanjali Ayurved has been a big proponent of 'Swadeshi', has also voiced support for the movement, stating that boycotting Chinese products is nothing less than ‘service to the nation.’ A video tweeted by the Yoga guru on Monday shows a user deleting Chinese applications – Tiktok, Shareit, VidMate – from his mobile phone, and downloading alternate Indian applications from the Play Store.
“Deleting Chinese applications from your mobile is also a service to the nation,” Baba Ramdev said in Tweet translated from Hindi.
Indians quit Chinese applications
Numerous celebrities and influencers including Milind Soman, Arshad Warsi, and others have joined Wangchuk’s movement by deleting Chinese applications or giving of products made in China.
To make the process easier, a Jaipur-based startup in India has launched an application called 'Remove China Apps'. This app, developed by OneTouchAppLabs, detects apps made in China on the users' phones and provides a simple UI to remove them. Since its release on May 17, the app has already garnered massive support and has crossed one million downloads in less than two weeks. It is currently the top free app available on the Google PlayStore, available for free.
'Boycott Chinese Products' movement
Following escalating border tensions between India and China, Engineer turned education reformer Sonam Wangchuk posted a message on Twitter that went viral on the platform — "Cheen ko Jawaab, Sena degi bullet se, Naagrik dengey wallet se (Answer to China will be given by soldiers with their bullets and citizens with their wallets)".
He advocated that Indians should start boycotting Made in China goods, arguing that the Chinese will feel the pinch harder on "their wallet" than on the border "with bullets".
Wangchuk encouraged people to drop the use of Chinese software "within a week", like the video-sharing platform Tik Tok. He said Indians have the freedom to choose what they spend on with their wallet and if a country doesn't treat India fairly then they should use boycotts as "personal economic sanctions".
Updated 10:55 IST, June 1st 2020