On Surya Namaskar, Rahul Dravid, Indian Left and RSS

The Surya Namaskar program by RSS in India has been garnering a lot of attention lately due to the controversies surrounding it. First it was the Madhya Pradesh government’s proposal to introduce Surya Namaskar in schools, now; it is regarding Rahul Dravid, Indian Cricket Team captain participating in a Surya Namaskar camp in Nagpur conducted by RSS.

In Madhya Pradesh, the controversy was regarding the chants which addressed Hindu gods and Lord Surya (sun). So, Muslims objected to Surya Namaskar being made compulsory in school. In a democracy like ours, no religious practice should be forced on anybody but at the same time those who voluntarily take part in such practice should not be stopped. Similarly, there should not be any impediments in spreading traditional Indian knowledge.

The second controversy is the creation of Indian Left especially by CPI(M). The mainstream media ignored the Rahul Dravid participating in a Surya Namaskar camp as it had no news value. But the ever over-vigilant Indian left could not tolerate Indian Cricket Team captain in a function organized by RSS. So they questioned it in the name of secularism. The net result was a free publicity for Surya Namaskar.