Opposition from church, student groups forces Nagaland to defer Yoga Day event

The Nagaland government has deferred its official International Day of Yoga programme to Monday following strong opposition from student bodies, tribal organisations, church groups and political parties over holding the event on a Sunday in the Christian-majority state.

The School Education Department issued a revised order directing the Directorate of School Education to postpone the observance in all institutions to 22 June.

The decision came after widespread objections to an earlier directive that instructed government and private schools to organise Yoga Day programmes on 21 June, ensure participation of students and staff, and submit reports along with GPS-tagged photographs.

The Naga Students' Federation (NSF) described the directive as insensitive to the religious sentiments of Nagaland's predominantly Christian population.

The federation argued that Sunday is a sacred day of worship and that compelling schools to organise Yoga programmes amounted to disregarding the constitutional rights and beliefs of the people.

The Central Nagaland Tribes Council said educational institutions should not be compelled to participate in programmes perceived to have religious or cultural connotations inconsistent with the faith of the majority community.

The Nagaland Congress and several other organisations also demanded the withdrawal of the original circular.

Church bodies joined the opposition to the government's directive.

The Nagaland Baptist Pastors' Union (NBPU) maintained that Yoga is rooted in religious and philosophical traditions incompatible with Christian beliefs and called upon churches and educational institutions to refrain from participating in the observance.

Following the objections, the state government revised its order and postponed the official programme by a day.

Despite the deferment, some Central government institutions, security forces and other organisations conducted Yoga Day programmes independently as part of nationwide celebrations.