The expectation from a publicly funded broadcaster like SBS, which ‘prides’ itself on its multicultural ethos and language services such as SBS Hindi, is that it will accurately represent the language, culture, and heritage of the diverse communities that make up modern Australia.
Unfortunately, its recent story headline — “Honouring Yoga’s South Asian roots while teaching in the West” — demonstrates the exact opposite.
The very claim in the headline that yoga is “South Asian” is not a simple iteration — it is a subtle dilution that distances the practice from its original Indian Hindu roots, misleading the public that may already be unfamiliar with yoga’s true spiritual and cultural origins.
Let us be clear: Yoga is not “South Asian”. It is Indian. It is Hindu. To lump yoga into the vague and often politically expedient umbrella of “South Asia” is not only historically inaccurate but intellectually dishonest.
Yoga is born out of the Vedas, nurtured by the Upanishads, codified by Patanjali, and practised for time immemorial by sages and seekers of Bharat. Its spiritual, philosophical, and physical dimensions are intricately woven into the fabric of Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism is also known as Sanatan Dharma).
Imagine calling Kung Fu “East Asian” instead of Chinese, or Flamenco “Southern European” instead of Spanish. It robs the tradition of its cultural soul.
“South Asia” as a term has become the convenient refuge of post-colonial academics and left commentators who are either uncomfortable acknowledging Hindu contributions to global culture or are actively trying to dilute them. Worse still, today the term “South Asia” is often code for erasing Indian and particularly Hindu civilisational agency by merging it with the cultural void in Pakistan and Bangladesh left by partition.
“South Asia” is often also a geopolitical connotation to replace the historical ‘Indian Subcontinent’ in an attempt to undermine the region’s Hindu heritage and distort its Indic history. For example, a country like Pakistan, which was amputated out of India during partition (1947) to specifically create an Islamic State rejecting the plural and liberal ideas enshrined in India’s culture, not only disavows its shared Indic heritage but has no interest, cultural investment, or spiritual connection to yoga.
In fact, Pakistan’s religious orthodoxy often views yoga as un-Islamic. Hence, using the term “South Asia” instead of India or Bharat in this context is, to be honest, distressing.
Australian public, especially multicultural broadcaster, should know better. Its mandate is to serve Hindi-speaking Australians — largely the Indian origin — by preserving, promoting, and celebrating their linguistic and cultural identity. So why is it parroting the same reductive academic jargon that flattens Indian/Hindu traditions and replaces clarity with ambiguity?
Journalists working for multicultural broadcasters have a responsibility to distinguish between ‘South Asian’ and ‘Indian.’ When those terms are conflated, a journalist must question that framing, not to amplify it uncritically!
Let us also not forget that India, from Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi, has consistently promoted yoga as a national treasure and a gift to humanity. It was under Modi’s leadership that 21st June was declared International Day of Yoga by the United Nations, supported by 177 nations, the highest number ever for any UN resolution.
That celebration is not about South Asia; it is about India — Bharat — asserting its civilisational wisdom in a modern world.
India has produced some of the most revered Yogacharyas, whose teachings have shaped both the spiritual and physical practice of yoga. Ancient masters like Patanjali, who authored the foundational Yoga Sutras, and Gorakhnath, a key figure in the Hatha Yoga tradition, established the philosophical and practical frameworks of yoga rooted in Hindu dharma.
In the modern era, visionaries such as Swami Vivekananda introduced Raja Yoga to the West, while Sri Aurobindo developed Integral Yoga to unite the physical, mental, and spiritual. Swami Sivananda inspired global interest in holistic yogic living, and T. Krishnamacharya, regarded as the father of modern yoga, trained luminaries like B.K.S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, and Indra Devi, who further carried India’s ancient tradition to the world.
These masters upheld yoga as an inherently Indian and Hindu discipline, not a vague “South Asian” export.
When public broadcasters begin to reflect the uncritical assumptions of Western academia or the cautious compromises of multicultural policy-making, they risk not only disappointing their audience but also compromising their commitment to truth.
Cultural representation is not about vague inclusivity; it is about accurate, unapologetic recognition of roots. And the roots of yoga go deep, not into a vague South Asian loam, but into the sacred soil of Hinduism and India.
It’s high time that public broadcasters, such as SBS Hindi, remember their core purpose: to reflect the voice of Hindi-speaking Australians, not the sanitised narratives of cultural dilution. Anything less is a disservice to its audience — and a disgrace to the legacy of yoga itself.
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