While Yoga has become a fashionable expression to denote everything that it is not, there is a need to promote it as a science in its true form with respect.
There is also a need to accord it an official status and taught in schools and tertiary institutions by qualified teachers and experts in the field.
Yoga is being distorted and hence must be promoted appropriately.
These were among the issues discussed at the second Wellington Region Hindu Conference held at the Waiwhetu Mare in Lower Hutt on April 9.
‘Arogya’ (meaning ‘Health’), a division of the Hindu Council of New Zealand organised the one-day event for the benefit of the residents in the Wellington region and apprise them of the true concept of Yoga.
Officials of the Hindu Council, including General Secretary Dr Guna Magesan and Public Relations Officer Dr Rajiv Chatruvedi said the organisation would approach the Health Ministry to accord Yoga the status as an Alternative Therapy.
Revenue Minister Peter Dunne, who inaugurated the Conference, said that organisations such as the Hindu Council were utilising traditional medical wisdom to fill the gap where the Government was struggling to supply healthcare needs.
“I welcome such initiatives where communities came together to look for common grounds to share their time-tested knowledge,” he said.
In a message read by National MP Paul Quinn, Ethnic Affairs Minister Hekia Parata said that the mainstream media should stop stereotyping ethnic communities negatively.”
“There should be an alliance of civilisations in New Zealand and cross-cultural research will be a key factor in achieving such a goal,” she said.
Among the other speakers were Member of Parliament Trevor Mallard (Labour), Kaumatua Te Rira Puketapu, Ann Dysart, Manager, Community Relationships at the Social Development Ministry, Immediate Past President of the New Zealand Federation of Multiethnic Councils Pancha Narayanan, Jonas Malamanche of the Waiwhetu Marae, Dr H R Nagendra, Prajakta Sapre and Dr Raj Vinod Anand.
