'No common protocol for countries to celebrate Yoga day’

NEW DELHI: The government may not issue any common protocol for celebration of International Yoga Day on June 21. Instead, different countries will celebrate it in their own way worldwide, said officials involved with the preparations.

"We are still discussing the details of the celebration and no protocol has been finalized so far," said a senior official in the department of AYUSH (ayurveda, yoga & naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy). He said the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is overseeing all the preparations as well as promotional literature and videos.

The statement assumes significance as upcoming celebrations gathered controversy with some reports saying that the government plans to drop all references to the word 'aum' to avoid religious symbolism and claiming that the 33-minute common yoga protocol prepared by the department of AYUSH has no reference to "aum".

However, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav tweeted recently saying CD prepared by the government starts with "Aum".

Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), which is coordinating the celebration in various countries, also maintained that no instructions had been given to any country for any kind of common protocol.

"It is still at the planning stage and it is a United Nations' programme. So far, there are no instructions for any common protocol of any kind given to any country," ICCR chief Lokesh Chandra said.

In December last year, the UN adopted June 21 as International Yoga Day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the world community to celebrate yoga at the international level in his speech at the UN General Assembly in September. With 170 nations supporting Modi's proposal, the move was seen as major diplomatic win for India.

http://ift.tt/UTGTK9 Yoga Day,Indian Council for Cultural Relations,Department of AYUSH

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