Muslim woman in Jharkhand faces death threats for teaching yoga

Ranchi: A Muslim Yoga teacher of Ranchi, Rafia Naaz, has been receiving death threats for teaching Yoga.

Naaz informed that threats started coming in the last three years after the first International Yoga day. It had stopped a few days ago, but began again on October 10.

"I have received threats. I never said a fatwa has been issued against me. There is a big difference," Naaz clarified.

On Wednesday, an incident of stone pelting at her house also took place when the security guard went on a break. The incident stopped after police intervention, but resumed on Thursday morning .

"The threat to my life is also because I'm a student leader. I work towards the safety of students and I actively participate in and work for the society. So there has always been a certain degree of threat to my life," Naaz said.

She further said that practising Yoga as a Muslim had never been an issue in her family as well as the neighbourhood.

"At home, I was never told that Yoga belongs to any particular religion or caste; and, the people who have threatened me, don't have enough knowledge about Islam," Naaz said.

A resident of Doranda in Ranchi, who has been performing yoga since the age of four, Naaz became popular in her community after sharing the stage with yoga guru Ramdev, and has won many accolades and awards in this field.

As soon as the death threats came to the attention of state police, she was provided with a security guard by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kuldeep Dwivedi.