While India is gearing up to celebrate the International Yoga Day on June 21, the flavour of religion mixing up with the pranayam has disturbed the secular algorithm of the country.
All India Muslim Personal Law Board has come out open in against the government's move to make Yoga day as mass movement. The organization has decided to campaign against Yoga and Surya Namskar, terming it as anti-Islam.
On the other hand, Maulana Mahmood Madani, prominent leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, has said that Muslims have no problem with Yoga provided certain modifications are made to it. He said this while speaking to India TV Chairman and Editor Rajat Sharma in Aap Ki Adalat show.
However, to shunt down the controversy, Govt has removed the Suryanamskar from the mega yoga programme and said that reciting shlokas during Yoga is not compulsory and Muslim participants can instead chant Allah, ayat or anything they want.
Union Ministry of Ayush's Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy has selected an NGO run by a Muslim couple to conduct month-long camp in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh.
On June 21, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev will preside over a gathering of 45,000 at the mega event scheduled to take place at Rajpath. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top Union Ministers will participate in the mass yoga programme.
Let's take a look at how Indian Muslims are gearing up for the International Yoga day:
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, left, and former All India Imams Organisation general secretary and now a former member of the India Against Corruption core committee Mufti Shamoon Qasmi perform Anulom Vilom or Alternate Nostril Breathing exercises during a practice session ahead of International Day of Yoga in New Delhi.
Indians stretch as they attend a yoga session in the rain in New Delhi, India, Sunday, June 14, 2015. The United Nations has declared that June 21 will be observed as the International Day of Yoga.
An umbrella lies amidst wet yoga mats as the capital enjoyed soothing drops of rain ahead of the International Yoga Day in New Delhi.
A Muslim man performs Yoga exercises at a garden in Ahmadabad.
An Indian Muslim woman performs Yoga exercises at a garden in Ahmadabad.
Indians perform Yoga exercises at a garden in Ahmadabad.
