Rajasthan HC junks plea challenging mandatory Surya Namaskar in schools
Challenging the decision, two petitions were lodged in the high court on Monday ahead of Thursday’s Surya Namaskar programme in which the government also “committed to making a world record” as per the order
Jaipur: The Rajasthan high court on Wednesday dismissed the petition filed by the Rajasthan Muslim Forum challenging the state government’s order mandating Surya Namaskar during the assembly at every school, officials familiar with the matter said.
“The forum’s petition was dismissed by the court due to technical issues that the forum is not a registered organisation and therefore they cannot file such a petition as an organisation, as per the rules,” said Saadat Ali, the advocate for the forum.
“The petitioners want to withdraw this writ petition with liberty to file a fresh writ petition. The petition is dismissed accordingly with liberty as aforesaid,” the high court’s order read.
The state secondary education board on January 23 ordered all the government schools to organise Surya Namaskar on the day of Surya Saptami on Thursday. The order also further mandated the schools to make it a regular practice for all the students during the assembly as the “sunlight is the best source of Vitamin D which will good for the student’s health”.
Challenging the decision, two petitions were lodged in the high court on Monday ahead of Thursday’s Surya Namaskar programme in which the government also “committed to making a world record” as per the order.
While the Muslim forum lodged a petition as an organisation, another was filed by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen state general secretary Kashif Zuberi, stating that the move is “unconstitutional and violates Article 25 of the Constitution, which guarantees the freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion to all citizens”.
Though the forum’s petition was dismissed due to technical issues, the court gave another date for the hearing of the petition filed by Zuberi on February 20.
Responding to the development, Muhammed Nazimuddin, general secretary of the forum and also one of the petitioners said, “There is neither point of filing a fresh petition now nor having the next hearing date as the Surya Namaskar programme will be conducted tomorrow (February 15) without any objection. The government cannot force someone to do it.”
“Surya Namaskar is not yoga but it is worship of the Sun. Those believing in one god, do not worship anyone except Allah... This is against the law to impose religious practices on other religions. We have nothing against those who want to do Surya Namaskar, but why are they forcefully imposing this on those who do not worship the sun as god? We have asked parents to tell their children to stay away from any program related to Surya Namaskar,” Nazimuddin said.
Commenting on the development, state education minister Madan Dilawar said, “Everyone knows that Sun god gives light to everyone, removes darkness from everyone’s life and its light protects us from many diseases. Worshipping him is important. It’s just a worship. The Hon’ble High Court also knows that the Sun doesn’t discriminate against anyone and it is important to bow down to the one who is giving life to everyone…We will perform Surya Namaskar early tomorrow morning.”
