PM won’t perform yoga at mega event, says Swaraj
11 Jun 2015 4:35 AM IST
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said 47 of 177 nations, backing yoga resolution, were Muslim-majority countries, while Home Minister Rajnath Singh said there is “no compulsion” and that yoga should not be related to any caste, creed or religion.
The ministers’ responses comes following BJP MP Yogi Adityanath remarks that “those who oppose <g data-gr-id="29">surya</g> namaskar should drown in sea”.
The International Yoga Day celebrations will be held at Rajpath on June 21. Over 35,000 people are likely to attend the event.
Swaraj said: “He (Modi) will grace the occasion and address the gathering, but will not perform yoga.” Modi, an avid practitioner of yoga for years, has been tweeting pictures of various 'asanas', sharing their benefits in the <g data-gr-id="30">run up</g> to the International Yoga Day.
Describing yoga as the “soft power” of India, Swaraj said: “The initiative India had taken there was a reason that the world, which is now engulfed in violence should be taken to a path of peace. Yoga is India's soft power. Through that soft power, our goal is the world attains peace also bring down violence in the world.”
Swaraj, along with Minister of AYUSH Shripad Naik, unveiled the logo for the International Yoga Day.
India will observe its first Yoga Day on June 21 – the day was named by the United Nations last year, following a proposal by Modi during his address to the UN general assembly. “The resolution was passed within a record time of 75 days and was the first resolution in which 177 countries had become co-sponsors,” she said, calling it a “world record.”
In-house yoga event at Indian High Commission in Islamabad
With Pakistan rejecting visa to an Indian yoga instructor, India will now hold an in-house event at its High Commission in Islamabad to mark International Yoga Day on June 21, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday. "There is no problem. They refused them <g data-gr-id="54">visa</g>. We did our internal arrangement there. But yoga will definitely happen there. We were not doing this programme there by depending on them only... We will conduct yoga inside the premises of our embassy," she said.
NCERT book on yoga on June 21
Preparing to join the yoga day celebration, NCERT has prepared a textbook on yoga for upper primary classes to be released on June 21. The textbooks intend to teach history, theory and practice of yoga and could be made compulsory as part of health and physical education. The books also include specific guidelines related to yogic practices (asanas, pranayamas, kriyas and meditation). There is also <g data-gr-id="83">brief</g> description of each yogic posture, sources said.
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