Opposing the Centre’s directive to organise ‘Surya Namaskar’ programme in schools across the country as part of the 75-year celebrations of India’s independence, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has said that it was a form of Surya puja which is not allowed in Islam.
In an official statement released by AIMPLB, organisation’s General Secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani asked Muslims students to not participate in such events.
“India is a secular, multi-religious and multi-cultural country. Our constitution has been written on the basis of these principles. The Constitution does not allow us to teach teachings of a particular religion in government educational institutions or to organise celebrations based on the beliefs of a particular group,” the statement read.
Rahmani said that the present government is deviating from the principle of secularism and trying to impose the ideology and tradition of the majority community on all sections of the country.
“As it is clear that on the occasion of 75th Independence Day, under the Secretary to the Government of India, the Ministry of Education has decided to run a project of Surya Namaskar in the states, in which 30 thousand schools will be covered in the first phase. This program is proposed from January 1 to January 7. A concert on Surya Namaskar is also planned on 26 January. This is unconstitutional and false propaganda of patriotism,” he added.
UGC secretary Rajnish Jain has written to the vice-chancellors of the country’s 1,000-plus universities and the principals of its 40,000-odd colleges to participate in the “75 Crore Surya Namaskar Project”, to be conducted in January and February. Jain’s letter says the project aims to achieve the performance of 75 crore Surya Namaskars by 3 lakh students from 30,000 colleges and universities.
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