An internal probe by the Ayush ministry has revealed that a list released by an activist, purported to be a reply to an RTI query, was actually a list of yoga teachers sent by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in 2012, Economic Times reported.
Earlier, an alleged RTI response to Pushp Sharma and The Milli Gazette about Muslim teachers and trainers recruited by the ministry for foreign assignments during the World Yoga Day last year, stated:
‘As Per Government Policy, No Muslim Candidate Was Invited, Selected or Sent Abroad’
Responding to the RTI, the ministry said "The Ministry of AYUSH has noted with anguish certain mischievous misinformation being spread in certain section of media and social media quoting a reply to an RTI by mentioning a fabricated draft as Annexure I to that letter, which has never been issued by the Ministry of AYUSH or any of its agencies. The Ministry strongly condemns this piece of misreporting, clearly aimed at causing chasm between different sections of society and promoting disharmony and mistrust with ulterior motives."
Meanwhile, the police also questioned Pushp Sharma after the ministry filed an FIR with the Delhi police alleging forgery.
"The list was an old one sent out by another institution, not even us. Also,what has been written in the foot note is what we suspect is forged. And there is no maintaining of any record on the religion of the trainers, or any policy that Muslims should or should not be sent. In fact there is no column for 'religion' in the forms of Ayush ministry to trainers," Ayush Secretary Ajit Sharan told ET.
The ICCR officials claimed to have no record of what religion and community the trainers practised either.