VHP, Muslim personal law board spar over International Yoga Day

NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW: The hotheads of All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) got into a sharp altercation on Tuesday with Sadhvi Prachi reacting acerbically to the Muslim body's charge that the Union government had selected June 21 for the International Yoga Day as it is RSS founder Keshavram Baliram Hedgewar's death anniversary.

"They should connect themselves with the traditions of India, the culture of India... there's no need for any objection. If they are objecting, then they should go to Pakistan. People who are objecting to it have no right to reside in India," the sadhvi said when asked to react to AIMPLB's opposition to Yoga Day.

On Monday, AIMPLB's executive member Maulana Ather Ali had called the Yoga Day a conspiracy to enforce "Brahmin dharma and Vedic culture" all over the country, with the board writing to its members and asking all Muslim organizations to close ranks against the "Hindutva forces".

For the first time, the board asked its members to engage clerics who deliver Friday sermons to object to 'Surya Namaskar' and yoga as these don't comply with Muslim religious beliefs.

"India's pluralistic ethos is under assault from Hindutva forces. We'll do everything required to save our religious beliefs," Maulana Ather Ali had said.

His comments came days after BJP MP Yogi Adityanath's said those opposed to 'Surya Namaskar' should go "drown in the sea" amidst protests by Muslim groups over participation in the June 21 event.

On Tuesday Prachi intoned: "They (AIMPLB) have India's food and sing songs of Pakistan. Yoga works like a binding factor. It's not related to a single religious belief. Democracy does not tell you to object India's traditions and cultures."

The two-page letter from AIMPLB's Maulana Wali Rehmani states, "Sri Krishna taught Yoga to Sri Arjun in detail in chapter number two of the Gita. They greet the rising sun with pranaam and recite Om while performing different steps of yoga," adding that Muslims should stay away from 'Surya Namaskar' and Vande Mataram.

AIMPLB's Zafaryab Jilani said the letter is a guide to increase awareness among Muslims. "We've decided to rope in like-minded people from all walks of life to take up the issues aimed at pushing a communal agenda," Jilani said.

Maulana Mustaqeem Azmi, president, Jamiatul Ulema-e-Hind (Maharashtra), said he hadn't received any such letter but shared AIMPLB's concerns that Hindu culture was being given an unprecedented push by the Modi regime.

"It's not just yoga. (These are) attempts to saffronize education, Hinduize the thought process of citizens. Why is HRD minister Smriti Irani making yoga compulsory in schools?" asked Azmi.

IK Abedi, special invitee to AIMPLB, said the community would oppose attempts to force any culture down its throats.

"I haven't seen Maulana Rahmani's letter but read a piece in an Urdu paper where a senior cleric (Maulana Khalilur Rahman Sajjad Noamani) spelt out the community's fears about the way Modi government promoted International Yoga Day," said Abedi. He added he wouldn't be surprised if soon the imams raise the issues which concerns Muslims' faith.