Surya Namaskar postures resemble namaaz: Yogi
LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said though some people described yoga as communal, Surya Namaskar postures resembled those of namaaz.
He was speaking at the Yoga Mahotsav organised by Patanjali Peeth at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow on Wednesday.
Describing Surya Namaskar as secular, Yogi Adityanath said, “If this Yoga Mahotsav had been organised before 2014 (when the BJP won power at the Centre), the organisers would have been branded communal. Today, we are celebrating this yoga festival but earlier such programmes were considered communal just because of some people with a negative mindset.”
He also said there was a lot of difference between yoga and physical exercise.
“Yoga gives you complete health, but exercise gives you only physical strength. With the age, people become forgetful, despite exercising. A yogi always remains alert physically, mentally , spiritually, and socially,” he said.
“It was because of a negative mindset that the Congress-led government took the country backward between 2004 and 2014. There was naxalism and terrorism, not economic growth. In his first speech after winning the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said ‘now that we have won the election, we have to be positive in our mindset, we don’t have any scope for negativity.’ The difference is now clear. Our country is progressing at a faster pace. He went for demonetisation despite pressures and succeeded in bring out black money from the safes of the rich and the mighty.”
He said like Prime Minister Narendra Modi he would not hesitate in taking tough decisions for the benefit of the 22 crore population of the state.
“At a time when people don’t give bhiksha to anyone, not even to saints, the prime minister has given me the state of UP. This responsibility has not come without challenges,” he said.
He also said when BJP chief Amit Shah told him that he was being given the responsibility of the state, he (Adityanath) had only one set of clothes with him.
“I was in a fix whether to accept it or not. Had I refused, it would have been an escapist attitude, the result of negative thinking. So I decided to be positive and accepted the role offered to me. For 22 crore people, I will have to work as a Yogi , we have taken some decisions for the 22 crore population of the state in a week but will not shy away from more tough decisions for their benefit in the days to come,” he said.
He also said a negative attitude and the lack of will to work for the country had taken India behind.
“Today, there is no university in the top 100. A feeling of pride for the motherland was missing. Modi got that pride injected into every individual and today we can see 192 countries celebrating International Yoga Day (June 21),” he said.