Decision on Surya Namaskar in Raj schools draws flak

The BJP-ruled Rajasthan government has made Surya Namaskar and meditation mandatory in government and private schools in the state to improve students' physical and mental wellbeing, a move which has drawn sharp reactions from different groups.
The education department issued orders to all the district education officers yesterday asking them to ensure that Surya Namaskar, Yoga and meditation are performed for ten minutes by students in all the schools after morning prayers.
"The directions are for all the government and private schools. In a schedule of 20-minute for morning assembly daily, 5 minutes are for prayer and newspaper reading each and 10 minutes for the Surya Namaskar and meditation," Director (Secondary) Education Department, Suwalal said today.

He said the order will help improve the academic environment as well as physical and mental health of the students.
Along with the Surya Namaskar, national song and national anthem have also been made mandatory in the morning assembly.
Meanwhile, All Rajasthan School Teachers' Union as well as minority community groups have objected to the direction of the government.

"Surya Namaskar should be ideally done at the time of the sunrise whereas schools open after the sunrise," Ramkrishna Agrawal, the Union President said.
Mohammad Iqbal, Secretary, Jamaat-E-islami Hind, Rajasthan criticised the decision and demanded withdrawal of it from the government, saying it was against religions principles of the minority community.

He also threatened to approach court against the decision if the compulsion of the order continues.
"This is absolutely against the religious principles of the minority and we will protest it. We are in consultation with other social organisations to plan our course of action in the matter," he said.