Minority groups against 'Surya Namaskar' exercise in Guinness Book

A local Christian group has protested Madhya Pradesh government's plan to register mass Surya Namaskar  exercise (aerobic demonstration) on Janurary 12 in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The Isai Mahasangh of Madhya Pradesh (IMMP) has made it clear that they will be approaching the Guinness Book authorities not to include Madhya Pradesh government sponsored Surya Namaskar exercise as it promotes "communal discord" in the mulch-religious society.

The state government plans to hold Surya Namaskar exercise to be observed on Vivekananda Jayanti falling on January 12 across the state.

According to reports, the registration for the exercise has already been completed with the Guinness Book of World Records.

“We have different religious followers living together in Madhya Pradesh, government is trying to divide the young  minds by introducing religious activities pertaining to  particular religion.

The circular issued by the education  department has made it compulsory for educational  institutions to conduct it and also invite different sections of  people for the same.

 It has violated the 2009 Madhya  Pradesh High Court Order by making schools mandatory to  organize the ritual of Surya Namaskar,” said IMMP state general secretary, Jerry Paul.

There are many schools in the states that face pressure form the education department to conduct Syruya Namaksar orally.

John Antony, state secretary of Isai Mahasangh stated, “The constitution of India is very clear on the issue of  religious instruction that no general educational institutions owned by the government or aided by government  will impart any religious instruction. It also requires that the state government must seek consent of the guardian to  impart any religious instruction to minors but the government has not done that either.  So it is a clear violation of the Constitution of India.”

On the other hand, Muslim clerics in the state have issued a fatwa against the proposed exercise and termed it as "unislamic" though Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has stated that the participation in the exercise is not compulsory.