Ramdev holds rehearsals for Intl Yoga day at Rajpath, lauded by PM for efforts
19 June, New Delhi
Ahead of the International Yoga Day on June 21, Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev organised rehearsals of the event at Rajpath this evening.Thousands of yoga practitioners participated in the rehearsal ceremony of the International Yoga Day. The yoga camp, which was followed by a cultural event, was inaugurated by Union Minister and senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu.
Renowned singer-composer Kailash Kher enthralled the participants with his renditions. Speaking on the occasion, Baba Ramdev on Sunday said, ”yoga is not a religious but a spiritual and secular practice and will not make a practitioner lose his religious identity.”
“Doing ‘Surya Namaskar’ does not convert a Muslim into a Hindu,” he said. Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for getting global respect for yoga, Ramdev said the International Yoga Day had become a festival like the Independence Day or Diwali.
He said Modi had called him to praise his efforts to promote Yoga.’Yoga exponent Ramdev is also scheduled to hold a mass session with over 3,000 BSF jawans and officers to mark the International Yoga Day (IYD) on June 21, in Jodhpur.
The paramilitary personnel will also perform yoga exercises in Srinagar, Jammu, Shimla, Lucknow, Patna, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Shillong, Gangtok, Agartala, Imphal, Kohima, Itanagar, Aizawl.In Delhi, the event will be led by the Central Industrial Security Force at the Central park in Connaught Place.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister posted a video message on his Twitter handle in which he described the International Yoga Day as “the invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition”.
The Prime Minister said when he outlined a vision for an International Yoga Day in September 2014 at the United Nations General Assembly, even he had not anticipated the huge enthusiasm for the occasion from across the world.”Your support and participation last year, and once again now, redeems our commitment to nurture and promote this ancient discipline and reaffirms yoga as an exemplary manifestation of Vasudhiava Kutumbakam, or the world as one family,” Mr Modi said.