India Christians boycott sun worship

(January 13, 2013) Christian and Muslim schools in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state defied an order to participate in a mass Hindu sun-worshiping ritual staged on Thursday by the government to gain entry into the Guinness Book of World Records. Television channels reported students from more than 6,000 schools were among 10 million people who joined the surya namaskar (salute to the sun) exercise across the state. The ritual involves practicing a specific sequence of movements in what was traditionally a form of worship to the sun deity Surya. The event marked the birthday of Swami Vivekananda a scholarly 19^th Indian ascetic who introduced Hindu philosophy to the West. The government had originally ordered students from all schools to practice the ritual, but made it optional after Christian and Muslim groups protested. However, some principals from Christian schools later said government officials had insisted that all students must take part. Father Anand Muttungal, the Catholic Church’ spokesman in Madhya Pradesh, said Christian school had been instructed not to participate in the ritual. The Catholic Church manages around 500 formal schools and equal number of non-formal schools in the state. Christians and Muslims refused to participate saying it was against the tenets of their religion. Fr. Mutungal said ordering the practice of rites from one particular religion on others in schools is not acceptable in a country that upholds secularism.