Srinagar :Advisor to Lt Governor Farooq Khan clarified that “SuriyaNamaskar” is not “mandatory” in Jammu and Kashmir and doing it is left to an individual’s discretion.
“There is no force on anybody to do the “SuriyaNamaskar” whosoever wants, and who does not want is their own choice”, Advisor Farooq Khan said while speaking to reporters in Srinagar.
He said there is nothing written in order that if anybody would not do Surya Namaskar would be penalized. Who so ever wants to do can this is a part of Yoga nothing else, he said.
Doing “Namaskar” is being given religious notion, which actually is not”, he said and added “It is not mandatory in any way”.
The Jammu and Kashmir government’s directive asking college students and faculty members to perform “Surya namaskar” triggered a controversy with former two Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti terming the directive as “reflection of communal mindset”. Provincial spokesman of National Conference Imran Nabi Dar asked for the roll back of the order.