The 12th International Yoga Day took place on June 21, 2026. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a mass session in Kolkata, West Bengal, while President Droupadi Murmu led a state-level event in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. Both leaders issued statements on yoga's global role, with additional programs reported in other Madhya Pradesh cities.
“Yoga is India’s gift to world, guiding humanity amid challenges: President Murmu”
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“PM Modi at Yoga Day celebrations in Kolkata says the practice connects world to India”
Read at Hindustan Times →Modi's Kolkata address frames yoga as Indian soft power and nationalist heritage, staged in opposition-led West Bengal to project cultural centrality.
“Heritage politics and sidelining of pluralistic traditions.”
Modi's leadership projects ancient traditions as global soft power and practical alternatives to modern ailments, reinforcing national sovereignty.
“Civilizational legacy and self-reliance over Western cultural hegemony.”
State-sponsored mass sessions illustrate government promotion of personal health practices, risking state branding of voluntary self-improvement.
“Personal agency versus top-down coordination and soft-power projection.”
All three perspectives accept soft-power framing without examining measurable outcomes, costs, or the event's routine calendar nature.
“Unexamined assumptions about narrative control and lack of outcome data.”
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