The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has warned the Indian government about the circulation of “objectionable content on social media that could stoke communal tensions” across the country ahead of the International Yoga Day. In a dossier running into more than 50 pages, the CIA has said that there are “systematic attacks” from individuals and associations on Yoga, Hindu spiritual gurus and teachers, dubbing Yoga as “an exercise to please Hindu deities”.

Few suspicious social media accounts are being used by the culprits to circulate a list of Yoga trainers allegedly involved in sexual and physical abuse, the dossier said. There are several “defamatory” posts calling for a boycott of the International Yoga Day, they added. These suspicious accounts are also circulating “objectionable” emails about Indian culture.

Referring to several news reports in the American, British and Australian media, the intelligence report said, that there is widespread criticism of India’s “move to reclaim” Yoga. The dossier Reported that a campaign against Yoga teachers had begun soon after the UN declared June 21 as International Yoga Day.

It is suspected that the commercial interests  may be behind this “vilification campaign”. Many US outfits which were profiting from Yoga, through training programs that teach various customised asanas, making it look like more local, may also be behind the campaign, they said.

“Posts about the embezzlement of funds, sexual abuse and trafficking surfaced recently in social media and are now being circulated using two fake profiles. We have noticed that these suspicious users, remove the content within 48 hours after posting it and use fresh links to post the same content,” an intelligence official said.

While the whole world is getting ready to embrace the International Yoga day, some pseudo secular elements are trying to create communal tension by terming Yoga as against some religions belief.

By Premji