TERMING THE State Government’s proposed Surya Namaskar in schools as an exercise ‘against secularism’, the minority cell of the Congress Saturday on SatuArday called for its immediate ban.
The programme being organised on January 25 in educational institutions across the State “is nothing but part of the BJP’s saffronisation policy”, president of the Congress Minority Cell Haji Mohammad Haroon told reporters here. Describing Surya Namaskar as a form of worship of the sun, he said any form of worship was against Islam.
Haroon said Muslims are not against yoga and pranayam but such programmes should not be organised by the Government. It is the responsibility of the Government to honour all faiths instead of promoting any particular religion, he said, adding if any the Government tries to encourage a particular religion, it would be against the principle of secularism enshrined in the Constitution. He appealed to the Centre to frame a law to ban programmes that “violate the principle of secularism”.