How BJP spared PDP but not Hamid Ansari to do yoga

The storm over Ram Madhav's tweet questioning vice-president Hamid Ansari's absence from international yoga day activities is revealing for a variety of reasons.

First, was Madhav questioning Ansari in his capacity as the general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)? If he was, it clearly shows that a pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is comfortable questioning a senior constitutional authority of India about his duties. If Madhav the citizen was questioning Ansari the citizen, it is none of the former's business. And Madhav's reason for deleting his tweet - because he heard that Ansari was unwell - only digs him deeper into the hole. Is the vice-president of India pardoned of being absent for International Yoga Day celebrations because he submitted a "leave of absence" chit to a pracharak? Then there is the vice-president's reason for his absence for Yoga Day celebrations - because he was "not invited".

Here's a take on that: Ansari is trained to smooth over unimportant or unnecessary turbulence. However, there is also a time, even for diplomats, to state the obvious: Citizens of a democratic country should be left to choose whether they wish to practise yoga or not; be allowed to state their difference, collective or individual. Why was the vice-president of India reticent to state his indignation at being subjected to a roll call?

Meanwhile, in the crucible that is Kashmir, we found that members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) - one of the parties in the coalition of opposites - did not participate in the Yoga Day. More significantly, there was no criticism of this from the BJP, its opposite partner. Clearly, when it comes to politics and power arrangements, alliances will let sleeping understandings between them recline undisturbed. Was it strength of character on the part of the PDP or a spirit of "compromise" on the part of the BJP that allowed this harmony? Either way, it is too little too late. Especially when you consider that the PDP members chose this stance as individuals while requiring the collective machinery of government to comply with the order.

Now Sambit Patra, a spokesperson for the BJP, instructs us not to stretch (criticism?) of l’affaire de tweet too far. He forgets that the reactions are in the context of an executive order - alright, “suggestion” - from a head of government to ensure compliance to a Yoga Day affair across the country. If Patra was given some more air time, he would perhaps have argued that it was part of India's display of "soft power" to the international community.

But consider this: yoga is hardly a novel introduction to the world. In fact, it was propagated and popularised as long ago as the 1960s by sundry yogis who travelled to the West, The Beatles and the hippies. Today it is a form of exercise the world over, used by aerobics instructors and new age therapists alike, albeit much of it by charlatans.

What is shady about a government with an avowed intent to forge a Hindutva India advocating yoga and asking non-Hindus to regard it as a secular form of exercise? It risks turning the undeniably rich heritage of yoga into hypocritical secularism, which is worse than the "pseudo" secularism for which the BJP loves to hate its opponents.