Regd. No. MCS/035/2015-17 RNI Regn. No. 43675/1985 MUMBAI FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2015 32 PAGES `3 Website: www.afternoondc.in
Aft er oo
YOGA DAY ORDERTURNSA HORNET’S NEST
Gold: `26,950 Silver: `38,440 US Dollar: `64.00 Temperature: 320C/290C Humidity: 66%
48 Hours Pg13-20 Films Pg24-25
Ambush in Manipur 20 armymen were killed and 12 injured when a convoy was ambushed by terrorists See Pg 2
Maggi row: All-India ban on the cards?
Some Muslim political leaders and clerics do not want to participate in the World Yoga Day event
N Health Officers collecting samples of Maggi noodles in Bikaner on Thursday.
See Pg 2
EW DELHI: Some Muslim outfits have expressed reservations over reports that the government may ask schools to mark International Yoga Day. They claim that yoga requires bowing which is a practice reserved during Namaz. They also say that yoga sessions should not be made compulsory. The government has been is planning countrywide yoga sessions to mark the International Day of Yoga on June 21. The government has maintained that yoga is a physical
activity and should not be linked to religion, says an agency report. "We object if yoga is made compulsory, suryanamaskar is against the basic teaching of Islam. We are not against any form of exercise but why aren't they making martial arts or any other form of physical activity compulsory," asks All India Majlis-eItehadul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi. The Congress, too, slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making
Yoga compulsory. "The PM is known for headline management in everything. He's holding a yoga event for a day but does he practice it himself? He doesn't realise that India is a composite culture," Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said. Supporting the concerns of the minority groups, he said, "their concern is very simple. Why should I impose anything on a particular group. If a Muslim group or Christian or tribal group doesn't follow it then so be it. You can't impose it on
them," Surjewala said. He also added that the decision on whether Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul will be a part of the event will be taken after they get an invite. However, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that it is wrong to link Yoga with religion. "Health is wealth and Yoga is the key to that. It should not linked with any religion. Whoever wants to take, it they can and people who don't want to, don't have to," leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
JD(U), RJD and Congress alliance in Bihar The parties have resolved all differences and decided to contest the ensuing assembly poll together
N
Manmohan Singh stopped probe against Jagdish Tytler See Pg 2
Sharad Yadav, JD(U) president
EW DELHI: Congress, JD(U), RJD and NCP will contest Bihar assembly elections together, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav said on Thursday after weeks of dillydallying on the issue of formation of a secular alliance to take on BJP. "The unity is bound to happen as it is the need of the hour. The nation needs it. All of us will contest election together. Congress, JD-U, RJD, NCP and others will fight together," Yadav told PTI.
The JD(U) chief's assertion come a day after a key Lalu aide and MLC Bhola Yadav met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has begun consultations with party legislators and MPs to get feedback from them about the situation arising out of the delay in formal announcement of a tie-up. Kumar was also said to be weighing the option of going with Congress if an alliance with RJD did not materialise. Rubbishing speculations
that alliance talks had failed, Lalu had said yesterday in Patna that reality was different from what was being propagated by the "vested interests" and that he was "committed to fighting communal forces". His statement was seen as an indication that an alliance was likely. Scotching speculation about RJD and JD(U) going separate ways, Sharad Yadav said, "The unity (of Janata Parivar parties) has already been announced. Now the
announcement will materialise. It will materialise as the country needs it." "I am confident about the unity," he said. He, however, refused to clarify whether he was referring only to JD(U) and RJD contesting together or to the grand alliance of six parties of erstwhile Janata Parivar. Samajwadi Party, RJD, JD(U), JD(S), INLD, and Samajwadi Janata Party had Continued on pg 2 ÂŤ