MP govt's 'Surya Namaskar' drive for Guiness record

Disregarding vocal protests from the minority communities, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh has decided to go ahead with its annual state-wide Surya Namaskar show, hoping to get it into the Guinness Book of World Records.

The Madhya Pradesh government believes this year's exercise can edge out Kazakhistan, which holds the Guinness record for holding the largest mass, multi-location, aerobics demonstration.

Over 1 crore people, including 50 lakh students are expected to perform the mass Surya Namaskar.

Muslim leaders have equated it with idol worship and issued a fatwa against it on Wednesday.

Leaders of the minority community have termed the move 'un-Islamic' and equated it with idol-worship, which is prohibited in Islam.

Reacting on the issue, Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh tweeted, "Match Fixing between BJP/RSS and Jamiat Islami over Surya Namaskar issue in MP. Surya Namaskar is a Yogic Excercise unconnected with Religon."