Body to appeal Surya Namaskar decision

A prominent organisation working for the welfare of Muslims is all set to approach the Bombay high court against BMC’s decision to make Surya Namaskar (Sun salutation) compulsory in all municipal schools.

The Jamiat-e-Ulema, Maharashtra’s contention is that the civic body’s decision allegedly violates fundamental rights of Muslim citizens enshrined in the Indian Constitution. “We are challenging the BMC’s decision of making Surya Namaskar compulsory in civic-run schools on grounds that it violates the fundamental rights of Muslims provided under the Constitution of India,” said Advocate Tahwar Khan Pathan, appointed by the body to file the petition.

He added that Surya Namaskar is against Islam and is part and parcel of yoga which requires spiritual and physical bowing before the sun for bhakti (devotion) and the one performing it requires to recite shlokas (prayers) and hence, a Muslim cannot perform it. Advocate Pathan said that the decision is in violation of Article 25 (freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion) and Article 26 (freedom to manage religious affairs) of the Constitution of India and hence, they would raise this issue in court.

Hafiz Nadeem Siddiqui, president of the Jamiat-e-Ulema, Maharashtra, said, “Today, everybody is aware of the condition in which BMC schools are working and due to which, the number of students is reducing in these schools. There is a lot of constructive work that requires the attention of BMC officials but instead of concentrating on these important aspects to improve the condition of municipal schools, officials are more interested in politics and in forcing controversial decisions on students.”

Mr Siddiqui also said that the Jamiat had filed a similar petition in the Madhya Pradesh high court challenging the same issue and the government had filed an affidavit in the MP high court that they would not compel any student to perform Surya Namaskar. “We are hopeful of getting justice from the Bombay high court too,” he said.