India has given many gifts to mankind, yoga biggest of them all: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah was speaking after performing yoga at a public garden in Ahmedabad this morning on the occasion of the 10th International Day of Yoga

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that India has given many things to the entire humankind, but yoga is its biggest gift to the world. He was speaking after performing yoga at a public garden in Ahmedabad this morning on the occasion of the 10th International Day of Yoga. "This Yoga Day holds special significance because it is the 10th edition. After Narendra Modi became the prime minister in 2014, he addressed the UN general assembly and proposed that June 21 should be observed as Yoga Day. His proposal was eventually accepted after over 170 nations agreed to that proposal," Shah said.

Today, the entire world has not only accepted yoga, people are learning it and teaching it to others too, he said in his address. "India has given so much to humanity. But I personally feel that India's biggest gift to the world is yoga, which is a medium to connect our inner strength with our soul. Yoga is a remedy to many illnesses prevalent at present. It is the only way to live a medicine-free life as envisioned by our saints," the minister said.

He added that in Gujarat alone, nearly 1.25 crore people performed yoga on Friday. He appreciated the Gujarat government saying it has done a commendable job in popularising yoga. "Yoga is effortlessly realising the concept of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (world is a family) propagated by the Vedas. Today is an important day. Regular yoga practice is also necessary to realise our mantra of everyone's well-being. We can save our planet earth if we keep in mind the welfare of everyone," Shah said.