HUNDREDS OF MUSLIM MEN AND WOMEN WILL DO YOGA WITH MODI IN LUCKNOW

At least 300 Muslim men and women will attend the International Yoga Day celebrations in Lucknow.

Hundreds of Muslim men and women will participate in the mega event of the International Yoga Day here on Wednesday, working together with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on various yoga asanas at the Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan.

"At least 300 Muslim men and women will be participating in the celebrations of the International Yoga Day along with Modi.

This will undoubtedly be a historic moment in the lives of each and every member of our organization as they will share a precious 80-minute period with the Prime Minister, "said Rahee Khan, the Muslim leader Rashtriya Manch for UP And Uttarakhand.

Shia Maulana Yasoob Abbas, a spokesperson for the All India People's Law Council, said: "A number of Shia PG College students will go to Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan to attend the Yoga Day event, and there will be parallel sessions on campus We will make every effort to ensure that yoga sessions are held daily in college.

On March 29, Uttar Pradesh Minister Yogi Adityanath, while on his way to the three-day UP Yoga Mahotsava in Lucknow, had said that Surya Namaskar was similar to Namaz offered by Muslims and those who opposed yoga exercise wanted to split society on religious lines.

Mr. Adityanath, who in the past had attacked a section of Muslims who had denounced the practice of surya namaskar as "non-Islamic, said the greeting of the sun was a fine example of religious harmony.

"The namaz offered by Muslims resembles different postures and asanas of surya namaskar, including pranayama. What a beautiful example of harmony (between two religions.) But some bhogis who do not believe in yoga, have given themselves up to divide society into lines of caste , creed, religion and region, among others, "he said.

"All the asanas in surya namaskar, the activities of pranayama are similar to the way Namaz is offered by our Muslim brothers. But no one tried to join them because few people were interested only in bhoga and not in yoga, he said .

"Before 2014, even talking about Yoga was considered communal. But things have changed after Modi has taken steps to make Yoga popular all over the world, he said.

Praising the prime minister for making yoga a global phenomenon, Mr. Adityanath said: "PM Modi deserves all credit for the global recognition that yoga has.

"The number of countries that participated in the celebrations of International Yoga Day in 2015 was 175, which was 192 in the following year, he said.