Muslim personal law board, Catholics question making the Vedic practice compulsory
Lucknow/Panaji : More than a spiritual experience and physical exercise, PM Narendra Modi’s proposal of making Yoga a way of life has attracted religious colour. Various non-Hindu groups have objected to the idea of adpoting yoga only on the basis of it not being part of their religion and culture. In a latest objection, All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Wednesday termed Yoga as non-Islamic and a sin for Muslims. On the other hand, Goa’s Catholic legislators and representatives of minority educational institutions are raising their voice against the idea of making Yoga mandatory.
Hitting back at BJP’s Muslim face – Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s statement on yoga and Surya Namaskar, AIMPLB on Wednesday said practising yoga in their right form amounted to committing ‘big sin’ for Muslims.
“Those who believe in Islam can only pray before Allah who brought him on this earth….Yoga if practised in its right form, which will essentially be done in schools, will be like placing other things on par with Allah and this will be a big sin….the board has objections over this issue”, spokesman of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board Abdul Rahim Qureshi said.
“Yoga asanas (postures) start with recitation of ‘Om’….all Asanas have Shlokas….Surya Namaskar is also an asana in which the person doing it bows before the sun with his hands folded. I want to ask Naqvi sahab whether those practising Islam are allowed to bow before anyone other than Allah”, Qureshi said.
On the suggestion of Minister of State for Minority Affairs for not associating Yoga with religion and seeing it only as a means of improving health, Qureshi said people are being misled on this count. “When Yoga will be incorporated in schools, government will implement it in its basic form ignoring all objections of families of Muslim students…why is the government not coming out with its stand on this issue”, he asked.
“If Yoga is so good for health…are all those studying in schools unhealthy…why is Yoga so essential for them…it is wrong to force ones religious traditions instead of improving the education system”, he said.
In Goa, after a meeting of all Catholic MLAs and officials of the Roman Catholic Church-operated Diocesan Society of Education, BJP MLA from Calangute assembly constituency Michael Lobo said Wednesday that instead of making yoga compulsory, the decision should be left to individual school managements and parents.
“The MLAs are not taken into confidence. We would have to discuss about this… The discussion may take place tomorrow (Thursday), if the Diocesan Society of Education (DSE) takes it up (with the chief minister)”, Lobo said.
Lobo, along with nearly a dozen Catholic legislators across party lines, met DSE secretary Fr. Zeferino D’Souza over a host of issues related to minority educational institutions in the state, specifically about the BJP-led coalition government’s refusal to give requisite permissions to start four new higher secondary schools built by the Society.
The Catholic lawmakers from the BJP, Congress, Goa Vikas Party and even Independent minority legislators along with DSE officials are scheduled to meet the chief minister on Thursday where the issue of compulsory yoga is also expected to be discussed, Lobo said.
Meanwhile, in Haryana, Sadhvi Deva Thakur of the Hindu Mahasabha said that those who oppose to the ‘Surya Namaskar’ have no right to live in the country. “The Muslims who are opposing the Om word and Surya Namaskar have no right to live in the country. A few people are living in India and opposing the Indian culture,” she said.
