Nai Dilli : Enthused by the Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s inspiring words, “Yoga is a pause button that humanity needs to breathe,” thousands came together at Jamia Millia Islamia’s (JMI) sprawling Sports Complex under the theme “Yoga for One Earth, One Health” to celebrate the 11th International Day of Yoga (IDY) 2025 under the leadership of Vice Chancellor, JMI, Prof. Mazhar Asif and Registrar, JMI, Prof. Md. Mahtab Alam Rizvi.
The grand celebration was organized by the Games & Sports Department, JMI, in collaboration with the Office of the Dean, Students’ Welfare, JMI. Thousands of teaching and non-teaching staff and students participated in International Yoga Day and witnessed the address of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. Thereafter, all the participants practiced yoga as per the protocol suggested by the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, under the supervision of Yoga Teacher/Guru Prof. (Dr.) Badrul Islam Kairanvi, Director, Institute of Dr. BIK Yoga & Clinic of AYUSH Paramedics, New Delhi & Former Training Commissioner, KVS BSG-Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India, New Delhi. The yoga teacher demonstrated various mudras and asanas to the participants, telling them about their specific values and importance in the healing process of various diseases and in maintaining bodily posture and flexibility.
Prof. Asif highlighted the importance of the rich and ancient tradition of yoga to attain a healthy mind, body, and soul. He urged the JMI community to fully integrate yoga into their daily lives. He stated, “Yoga is the best way to clean the heart and maintain a peaceful and harmonious self. Dil (heart) connects to our soch (thought), and the way to keep the mind and our thoughts pure is to keep the heart healthy.”
Prof. Rizvi said, “The IDY will contribute to the fulfillment of the objective of Viksit Bharat.” He also said, “The entire JMI fraternity has been working tirelessly for the last one month, including attending several training sessions to make the International Day of Yoga 2025 a huge success. Regular yoga training sessions at JMI have instilled self-awareness and discipline among our faculty members and students.”
Dean of Students’ Welfare, Prof. Neelofer Afzal, Director, Sports and Games, Prof. Nafis Ahmad, the Controller and Deputy Controller of Examinations, the Chief Proctor and his team, Deans of Faculties, Heads of Departments, Directors of Centres, university faculty members and students, principals, teachers, and students of Jamia schools, NCC and NSS coordinators and their teams, and the Nasha Mukh Hostel committee, JMI (under the aegis of Nasha Mukht Bharat Pakhwada), came together in large numbers to participate in the IDY 2025. Dressed in specially designed T-shirts bearing the logo of IDY 2025, the university and school students, along with their faculty members, performed the yoga asanas in a spirited show of strength and balance inspired by PM Modi’s words on how yoga embarks us on “a journey from me to we” which played on the massive screens set up in the lawns of the Sports Complex.
A special radio program, produced by the AJK-Mass Communication Research Centre, JMI, was aired on Radio Jamia’s FM 90.4 on June 20, 2025, at 3:00 P.M. as an important segment of the commemoration of IDY 2025 at the university. Earlier, as part of pre-event activities, the Games & Sports Department, JMI, and the Department of Sanskrit, JMI, organized various “Yoga Training Sessions/Workshops” in line with the preparation for the celebration of the 11th International Day of Yoga.
This year’s grand yoga celebrations at JMI resonated with the Prime Minister’s message, ‘Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah‘ that is, the happiness and well-being of all is a sacred responsibility, and yoga is one of the best ways to achieve it.
