Asana Troubles...

I read in the newspapers today that a State Government has decided to make the practice of a Yoga asana, the Surya Namaskar, in educational institutions, voluntary, owing to objections from minority (read non-Hindu) communities in the State. The communities believe, and they are right to some extent, that the asana has religious connotations, as in it is intended to be seen as a respectful offering to the Sun, who is deified in Hinduism as the Giver of Life.

But the point here is that while the said asana has religious connotations, it isn't limited to just that. The Surya Namaskar is perhaps the best exercise that a growing child can be exposed to, and regular practice of the same is guaranteed to ensure that the child grows into a very healthy and well-balanced individual. Rejecting the exercise solely on the basis of its 'communal' association, without taking into consideration the health benefits derivable by its practice, is a dangerous idea, and even more foolish, to say the least.
Secularism is something that the Indian State is expected to cherish, and I have no objections to all that, because it is a nice idea to reject any particular faith primacy in State affairs. But I feel we are overdoing this idea. The State government concerned could have explained that if people have an objection to the nomenclature of the exercise, it can be changed for the purpose of the exercise, but as such the exercise should really be done, because it will benefit the children at large. They could have assuaged the concerns of the parents that their wards were being required to acquire quasi-religious education by pointing out that this exercise can be viewed as a part of physical education, and not as religious education at all.

Their decision to have announced the scheme as a purely voluntary one sadly escapes the main issue, and establishes a dangerous precedent, a precedent which could be used by anyone in the future to justify non-inclusion of a potentially beneficial course of education in the curricula solely on the basis that it originates from the tenets of a specific faith or community.
One hopes that better judgement prevails and the decision taken is reversed, if not for the sake of common sense, then at least for the children.