The State Government, hundreds of institutions and thousands of people joined the International Yoga Day celebrations in Kerala on Tuesday but the spirit of the event at the State capital, Thiruvananthapuram was marred a bit when Marxist Health Minister KK Shailaja openly objected to the recital of Sanskrit Shloka at the State-level programme.
“In a secular country, Yoga also has to be secular. Believers have the right to start Yoga with prayers to God. But there are people who are not believers and they have a right to practice Yoga too. They should be able to adopt their methods to achieve concentration,” the Health Minister said while inaugurating the event.
The CPI(M) Minister, who is also in charge of Social Justice, did take part in the Yoga programme but she did not cross her fingers or recite the Shloka when it was in progress while her predecessor in the Health Ministry, VS Sivakumar of the Congress, was sitting next to her. She reportedly told Sivakumar about her view on the matter.
After the programme, Shailaja reportedly sought explanation from State officials on why it was necessary to include the Sanskrit Keertana in the World Yoga Day programme. The officials had replied that the programme was scheduled as per the Common Yoga Protocol of the Ayush Department, reports said.
However, after her conduct triggered a controversy with the Congress and BJP reacting sharply, Shailaja offered an explanation saying that she had not questioned any State official. “I hold nothing against those recite Keertanas. But the programmes connected with a public programme should be acceptable to all. Even the Prime Minister says Yoga is not religious,” she said.
Stating that the position adopted by Minister Shailaja over the Yoga Day celebration was condemnable, State BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan said this would cause anxiety among the people. “Why had she responded like thisIJ Whom was she trying to appease with such wordsIJ She should know that Yoga has no religion,” he said.
Reacting to the Minister’s comments on the World Yoga Day event, former chief minister Oommen Chandy of the Congress, during whose tenure the first World Yoga Day was observed in the State, said, “Beginning functions with prayers is part of our culture. Such a controversy wouldn’t have come up if it was a month ago (when he was in power).”
Various Government and private institutions, hospitals and voluntary organisations also organised different programmes on the occasion across Kerala. Union Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar led the BJP’s State-level Yoga Day programme in Thiruvananthapuram in which Kummanam Rajasekharan and other leaders took part.
The CPI(M) organized a parallel Yoga Day across the State under its Indian Martial Arts Academy and Yoga Training Centre. Marxist Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who inaugurated the State-level programme at Kollam on Tuesday evening alleged that efforts were on to spread misunderstanding about Yoga.
“Some people are trying to link Yoga with religion and spirituality. But it is beyond religions. Yoga is a method of exercise – I am using the word exercise consciously – that conforms to the concept that a healthy body would have a healthy mind. Yoga, in that sense, is an important method of exercise,” he said.