Even as Union Minister for IT and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday urged Pakistan to embrace yoga, in West Bengal, the International Yoga Day failed to evoke enthusiasm.
Thousands of people, mostly having allegiance to right wing groups, participated in the inaugural function of International Yoga Day held at Sports Authority of India complex in Salt Lake where the Minister performed yoga with other BJP leaders. This was one of the few events organised in the city on the occasion.
Initiative supported
“More than 190 countries supported this initiative, out of which nearly 44 were Islamic nations… Although Pakistan initially supported the idea, it cancelled it at the last moment. I appeal to them to think about it, yoga will help them attain peace and help them reduce tension,” Mr. Prasad said at the event.
‘A symbol of mankind’
The Minister went to call yoga a symbol of mankind, peace and brotherhood and spoke about Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiative to observe June 21 be observed as International Yoga Day.
In West Bengal, while the Central government’s departments, the Army, National Cadet Corps, the Border Security Force held a few programmes, the Trinamool Congress government completely shut itself to the initiative.
Organisers clueless
An event conceived by two of the West Bengal government departments (AYUSH & Sports and Youth Welfare) in the past did not see participation of any State government Minister, leaving the organisers clueless.
The social networking accounts by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress , which are often abuzz with festivals and events, remained silent on International Yoga Day.
Other than Darjeeling and Asansol, the two places which are represented by the BJP in the Lok Sabha, there was not much activity visible about yoga in towns and rural Bengal.
The industry bodies and chambers along with socio-cultural organisation like Ramakrishna Mission and The Art of Living Foundation did their bit to observe International Day of Yoga but the events organised by them had limited participation.
The eastern region of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organised an event where captains of industry and representatives of member companies were present.
Celebrities show little cheer
Prominent citizens of the city showed little cheer about the day.
While Trinamool Congress MP and actor Moon Moon Sen hailed the initiative by the Narendra Modi government as a ‘very good idea’, she was not in the city to celebrate the day.
“I am recuperating in Pune from a knee surgery. Therefore, I have no plans to practice yoga during the day. However, commemorating the day is a very good idea. Yoga at its basic form is a much better way than its other variations which have gained so much of popularity among celebrities,” Ms. Sen told The Hindu over the phone and added that she used to practice yoga a long time back.
Throughout the morning, several events across the city were held in which people from various age groups participated braving the intermittent showers.
Stating that the concept of yoga was being politicised and over-hyped, renowned author Nabaneeta Dev Sen said celebrating the day falls short of its very aim.
“Yoga has been commercialised earlier as well but this time, unfortunately, it is being politicised. Yoga is a wonderful idea but this is not the best way to popularise it. The fact that Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru also practiced yoga has not been given importance. An aggressive advertising campaign was taken up for the past few days [about the day]. It is absurd how yoga teachers and people are running around in the city to celebrate this day,” she said.
Interestingly, International Yoga Day coincides with the death anniversary of Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the founder of the Hindu right-wing organisation Rashtriya Swayamvsevak Sangh, from which Mr. Modi started his political career.
Reacting to this, Ms. Dev Sen expressed shock at the day coinciding with Hedgewar’s death anniversary. While the city was covered with banners and posters urging people to celebrate the day, actor and Satyajit Ray’s favourite Soumitra Chatterjee refused to comment on this and claimed to have no knowledge of such a day being celebrated in the State and across the country.
