Yoga is hugely popular in Iran, but there is scepticism about its history and connections to Hinduism and Buddhism, especially among the Islamic orthodoxy.
New Delhi: A university in Iran has approached India to start courses in yoga, ayurveda and unani medicine for its students.
In an invitation dated 24 April, the Iranian Embassy in India wrote to National Commission for Minorities chairperson Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi, requesting him to visit the Al-Mustafa International University, which counts “disseminating Islamic teachings” as one its chief activities.
For this initiative, Rizvi is all set to go to Iran on a five-day visit starting 9 May. He is expected to discuss the logistics involved in starting these courses.
The vice-chancellor of the university recently met Rizvi for a preliminary discussion. “The university basically wants India to help Iran in the area of health,” Rizvi said.
“After my visit, I will approach the AYUSH ministry to decide on the nature of courses.”
Iran’s suspicion-ridden relationship with yoga
While the potential tie-up would boost cultural ties between India and Iran, it is also significant given Iran’s own tension-filled relationship with yoga. In 2014, attempts were made in the country “to raise awareness of ‘satanic plots’ and to ‘safeguard the values and ideals of the revolution and religion’.”
Yoga continues to be hugely popular in Iran, but there is scepticism about its history as an ancient spiritual practice with connections to Hinduism and Buddhism, especially among the Islamic orthodoxy.
The head of the country’s Spiritual Health Institute had said yoga’s “new age spiritualism was corrupting Islam”. He had also reportedly warned Iranians of a ‘Western conspiracy’ behind the popularity of yoga.
“The new teachers of yoga are often not even Indian,” he is reported to have said. “They’re European or American.”
In India itself, yoga has had its share of controversies. In 2015, Muslim leaders took exception to the government’s official guidelines that instructed International Yoga Day participants to chant ‘Om’.