Ignoring the outcry making Yoga compulsory for children to participate in International Yoga Day on June 21, Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Eknath Khadse waded into controversy and claimed that ‘Namaaz itself a form of Yoga’.
“Namaaz is a form of yoga,” Minority Affairs minister Eknath Khadse said that standing and bowing in Namaz is same we do in yoga. Namaz is nothing but a type of yoga exercise; it hardly matters whether you do it by remaining vertical or going horizontal,” he added.
Speaking to reporters in Mantralaya on Tuesday, Mr Khadse said that there was no compulsion to perform yoga on International Yoga Day.
The Maharashtra government’s decision to have Yoga demonstrations on the International Yoga Day has been met with opposition from Muslim groups. The groups want the practice of Yoga to be made optional as many believe that Suryanamaskar go against the canon of their religion.
“It hardly makes any difference whether you keep fit in the name of the sun or in the name of Allah,” he further claimed. “Those who believe that their faith will be affected should take the name of Allah while doing the posture,” Khadse said.
Rather than taking the Muslims outcry into consideration, Khads said “It is unfortunate that certain parties are taking political mileage by converting this into a religious issue. It is very unfortunate,” Khadse added.