Economic ills cannot be cured by inhaling and exhaling breaths only
When Prime minister Narendra Modi will lead the nation in doing Anuloma at Boat Club on 21st June, World Yoga day the Viloma(opposite ) will certainly follow him. The secular and Islamic lobby of the country started criticizing PM’s branding Yoga on different counts. Secular lobby arguments are based on the duties of a PM of secular democratic country. They are saying that PM have others duties to perform than doing Tamasha of Yoga to catch the attention of TV screens. They feel and they may be right in saying that publicity hungry Modi can divert and mould his energy in any direction and so the nation. To quote Congress leader and regular yoga practitioner for three decades, Digvijay singh, "He is doing all things that a PM and the ruling party should not be doing. Telling people not to eat beef and now eggs, telling them what to celebrate, whom to venerate, and now how to exercise.’’ In same spirit communist veteran A.B Bardhan says that Modi is belittling yoga because it is for individual and should not be pushed in this way. Surprisingly, the socialist leader is putting an individualistic logic to counter collective Modi. On the other hand Islamic leaders like Owasi are objecting touniversal yoga due to Suryanamskar. They say that believers in Islam cannot bow their heads before anybody except God(Allah).
But one thing that is missing from all these critical arguments is the economic aspects of Yoga. The neoliberal economy on one hand, generates enormous wealth for few and on the other hand, lots of tensions and aspirations for others. These Economic policies have compelled three to four lakh farmers to commit suicide(one at Jantar Mantar in broad daylight) and left lakhs of labourers jobless. Even the drum beater middle class of neo-liberal economy along with temporary enrichment has got diabetes , blood pressure, kidney diseases, respiratory problems and cancer as gift of this neoliberal- era. Earlier these were identified as Rajrog (diseases of the rich and powerful ).
Since Modi is following the same economic path which compels young finance professionals, like Sarvshreshtha Gupta to commit suicide in America due to overburden of work and ambition, he will provide only distress and insecurity as subsidy to farmers. All the corporate tycoons and professionals and their political disciples think that they can remedy the economic and political ills by doing mass yoga on Rajpath. But they forget that the yoga can give only temporary relief to imbalance created by economy on the levels of body and mind. Yoga as an individual remedy cannot correct the systemic wrongs. Modi is a hyperactive leader and he is putting too much effort on international issues. However, if he wants to use Yoga as a cultural means to humanize the brutal face of neoliberal policies, it is too late and too meagre . Mountains of disparity and valleys of uncertainty cannot be leveled by inhaling and exhaling breaths only.
Arun kumar tripathi
