Yoga row: Why Muslims have a reason to suspect government's intentions

I studied in a missionary school, run by nuns whom we addressed as "sisters", from beginners to matriculation. I read the Holy Bible (especially, Book of Job and the Gospel of St Matthew) as part of my syllabus in college. In school, I would even pray before the statue of Jesus Christ whenever faced with a difficult situation.

But I never felt that my Hindu faith was under threat. In fact, my knowledge of Christianity went up and so did my respect for that religion. It was because nothing was mandatory - from studying in a missionary school to praying before Jesus Christ to reading the Bible.

But Muslims have a reason to feel threatened and suspect the intentions of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Maharashtra, which has ordered schools to remain open on June 21 to observe World Yoga Day, even though it happens to be a Sunday. Despite state education minister Vinod Tawde having clarified that not observing the Yoga Day would not invite any punitive action, this has failed to quell the doubts taking root among the Muslims.

Taking advantage of the situation, ideologues like All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi have rebuked the government for making yoga compulsory. He has reiterated what hardliners like him have been saying for ages that while doing yoga, one needs to do surya namaskar, which means one has pray to the sun. And Islam does not permit praying anyone except Allah, objected Owaisi.

Attending school on a Sunday and doing yoga is not the only issue. Yoga would be accompanied with the chanting of "Aum" and Vedic hymns. This has been confirmed by BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, a former RSS functionary.

I checked with d concerned officials again. They insist that d protocol for Yoga Day starts with Om 3 times followed by a Vedic hymn

— Ram Madhav (@rammadhavbjp) May 16, 2015

But why should non-Hindus chant "Aum" and Vedic hymns if they do not want to? They should not be forced to, if they are not comfortable while performing yoga. Otherwise, they are bound to feel suspicious about the government's motives. Can the government not introduce yoga without the sub clauses such as the chantings which may hurt Muslim sentiments?

Asking children to attend school on a Sunday in order to perform yoga, a product of Hindu religion, and to chant Vedic hymns - all this is happening in a BJP-ruled state and that too at a time when the BJP is also ruling at the Centre with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under whose chief ministership riots had taken place in Gujarat in 2002 killing Muslims, at the helm. The antics have already made the minorities insecure. The yoga controversy, coming close on the heels of numerous atrocious statements made by the Sangh Parivar's fringe elements, divisive acts like the ghar wapsi programme and the church attacks (even though no overtly religious motive was associated with them), may be totally unwarranted.

But are not even the Muslims being a little thin-skinned? They can emulate people in the western countries where the yogic asanas have been renamed in English. For instance, padmasana, called lotus pose in English, has been re-christened "criss-cross apple sauce".

Like the Muslims in India, some Christians in the US too had objected to yoga classes in schools until the matter reached the courts. In a recent judgment, a court ruled that the yoga programme in a school was devoid of any religious, mystical or spiritual trappings.

While the BJP governments at the Centre and in the states would do well to take the sensitivities of the minorities, particularly, the Muslims, into account, can't rabble-rousers like Owaisi and his friends temper down a notch and stop misleading the community members at the drop of a hat for petty electoral gains?