Lucknow: Hundreds of Muslim men and women will participate in the mega International Yoga Day event in Lucknow on Wednesday performing along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi various yoga asanas at the sprawling Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan. On 29 March, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while addressing the three-day UP Yoga Mahotsava in Lucknow, had said that Surya Namaskar was similar to namaz (prayers) offered by Muslims and those opposing the yogic exercise wanted to divide the society on religious lines. ​​Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also attended yoga celebrations and stressed that yoga belongs not merely to India, but to the whole world and is a complete system for well-being and harmony within ourselves, as well as with nature and the world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his first address to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2014 proposed the idea of International Yoga Day and it was accepted.
More than 50,000 people practice yoga in Lucknow, India, to celebrate International Yoga Day.