View From The Right: Politics of yoga | The Indian Express

The editorial in Organiser, “Shirshasana with political glasses on,” comments on those leaders who “preferred either to boycott Yoga Day or uproot it from the Bharatiya roots”. It says “some people with so-called secular and anti-Modi glasses chose to stand on their head in protest” against the Yoga Day. The Bihar government “distanced itself from the historic day”, while “Arvind Kejriwal used his usual asana of protest”. Both these leaders are battling criminalisation and corruption charges in their states, and “perhaps, promoting Yoga in the true sense can help them to govern the states better”, the editorial says.Kerala health minister K.K. Shailaja questioned the use of chants and prayers, according to the comment, which then argues that as there can’t be “communism without the European understanding of class struggle” or “global capitalism without being intrinsically rooted in the American version of neo-liberalism”, “yoga cannot be separated from Sanskrit and the scientific way of chanting and breathing”. It says “the Hindu view of life… tries to bring a healthy way of bringing harmony within and with the outside world” but the “tainted glasses of communism with headstand position compel them to see everything with a divisive and upside-down mindset”.

“The secular-communist practitioners of Hatha Yoga are not ready to understand that it is neither about the BJP nor about Modi, it is purely about Bharat, the cultural tradition of which is inherently Hindu,” the editorial concludes.

Valley Violence

The cover story in Organiser, “The precarious facade”, says as “various factions of Hurriyat are trying to forge the united front”, the “democratic and nationalist forces will have to collectively take up this challenge” and “sustain the process of peace and development”. It says Mehbooba Mufti Sayeed’s “alliance with the nationalist BJP” is an “eye-sore” for “anti-national elements” who are “aware that a government, in which BJP is an important component, would frustrate their evil designs”.

“Fundamental groups of the Kashmir Valley are ganging up to unitedly oppose setting up of a Sainik Colony for ex-servicemen of J&K, establishing colonies for displaced Kashmiri Hindus, implementation of industrial policy in J&K,” the article notes. It points out that “Pakistan-supported terrorist groups have intensified their activities”, as over 190 people, including 47 security personnel and 108 terrorists have been killed in a year.

Four south Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian accounted for the highest number of terrorists attacks (61), resulting in the death of 54 persons including 12 security men and 34 terrorists. “The three north Kashmir districts of Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipora, which share a border with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, witnessed almost double the number of deaths compared to south Kashmir districts in such terror attacks,” it says.

Concern over Kashmir

An article in Panchjanya expresses “concern” over the “resettlement of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladesh in Jammu and Kashmir”. The separatists who “frown over the return of Pandits” are embracing these “foreigners”.

“According to an estimate, nearly 20,000 Myanmari Muslims are now living in several sensitive areas of the state,” it says. The government estimate puts the figure at 13,400. The bigger question is “who is bringing these foreigners from across thousands of miles to J&K and what are the intentions?”

People in the Jammu region believe that not only these foreign elements are being increasingly allowed to move in, but they are also in touch with extremists, according to the article. It claims that the Srinagar branch of Jamaat-e-Islami is helping these foreigners and also opening madrasas for their children. Even the “names of places have been changed where these foreigners are being settled”. Once such locality is named Hamza colony, it says. The word is linked with the spread of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Wahabism in J&K, according to the article, which adds that several Lashkar commanders killed in the Valley had “Hamza” attached to their names.

Compiled by Ashutosh Bhardwaj