INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
WASHINGTON: Asserting that yoga is universal and unifying given its origins in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a landmark event at
the United Nations on Wednesday, urged its practice globally to bring humankind closer and improve the health of the planet."Yoga comes from
India and it is a very old tradition
Yoga is free from copyrights, free from patents and free from royalty payments.Read AlsoPM Modi-led yoga event at UN creates Guinness World
RecordThe yoga celebration was led by PM Modi during his inaugural state visit to the United States, following an invitation from President
Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden
The event, commemorating the 9th International Day of Yoga, witnessed the presence of esteemed UN officials, diplomats, andCelebrities,
spiritual leaders, politicians join PM Modi for star-studded yoga event in USFrom Hollywood actors and singers to politicians and Yoga
gurus, prominent personalities from different walks of life joined PM Modi on Wednesday as he led the mega Yoga Day celebrations outside the
UN headquarters in New York.Among the people who attended the event were Hollywood actor RichardAll you need to know about Annelies
Richmond, instructor who led Yoga Day celebrations at UN with PM ModiAnnelies Richmond added another feather to her cap as she led the
International Yoga Day celebration along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday, creating a
Guinness World Record for the participation of people of most nationalities.Yoga is unifying; it is for everyone, for all ethnicities, for
all faiths, for all cultures
Yoga is truly universal!"Modi said in remarks before participating in international yoga day under the aegis of UN.The Prime Minister brief
comments were an implicit rebuke to a country notorious for excessive and often spurious patent protections where some yoga gurus, notably
Indian teacher Bikram Choudhury, sought to copyright poses
A US court rejected the claim
Chaudhury is currently on the lam from US after he was ordered to pay damages in a case of alleged sexual harassment, which he has denied
While acknowledging yoga is universal and advocating its global practice, Modi also asserted its Indian origins, with no reference to
Some critics, mostly a malingering minority, have accused him of promoting yoga as tool "to conceal a political agenda steeped in #Hindutva
- caste supremacist ideology - policies," a charge that has found little resonance at the UN, which has officially endorsed the
International Yoga Day, first proposed by the Modi government in 2014 and supported by 180 countries
In fact, UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres specifically backed Wednesday's event in a video message, saying, "In a divided world, yoga
unites millions of people across the globe, for whom it is a source of strength, harmony, and peace
On this #YogaDay, let us embrace this spirit of unity, and resolve to build a better, more harmonious world for people - planet.""Fully
agree with @UN Secretary General @antonioguterres on the importance of Yoga
May Yoga Day bring us all closer and improve the health of our planet," Modi responded.Still, the dissenters were out and about on news
channels, notably the BBC, claiming a political motive for India's yoga promotion, which they saw as a BJP initiative that is part of the
"Hindutva agenda." Broad participation by 135 nationalities, which the host said was a Guinness world record for maximum number of
nationalities in a yoga session, belied the charge
While critics contended that the Indian Prime Minister is an "exhibitionist" and yoga spread across the world long before he began promoting
it, his supporters and government functionaries exulted in the UN outreach."A landmark day for India
The world witnessed the power of India's culture as PM @narendramodi Ji practised Yoga at the UN HQs..
Modi Ji not just promoted Yoga on a global platform but reclaimed India's glory by gifting a new worldview of unity," tweeted union home
Among celebrity participants at event was the actor Richard Gere, who said described Prime Minister Modi as a "product of Indian culture"
and his message of universal brotherhood and sisterhood "is the one we want to hear again and again."WatchYoga is free from copyrights -
patents, free from royalty payments: PM Modi at UN headquarters
