Ramdev, in his signature style, started with a brief introduction about unity, health and well being followed by demonstrating Anulom-Vilom, Pranayam, Kapaal Bhati and other Yogasans to the gathering.

“I teach people Yoga. I speak of well being, healthy life and haven’t changed anyone’s religion,” a beaming Baba Ramdev said. Incidentally, the 143-year-old influential seminary had in the past issued a fatwa in favour of yoga after some clerics banned Muslims from practising it.

The 30th General Assembly organised by Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind at the Darul Uloom Islamic seminary was the first occasion when a Hindu religious figure addressed the audience, primarily comprising Muslim clerics.

The jam-packed pandal of the seminary, which is the seat of Sunni Muslims in Asia, fell silent as Pandit NK Sharma started reciting sacred Sanskrit texts at the dias.

More than two lakh clerics and students first listened attentively to Hindu religious texts which dealt with peace, unity and brotherhood and then watched the Yoga performance of Baba Ramdev.

Stressing on the need to promote yoga, Ramdev sought to dispel misconceptions about the activity by saying, “These yogas were like exercise to keep the body fit and do not violate any tenets of Islam since one is not required to recite any shlokas.”

As the Baba who is the founder of Patanjali Yaogapeeth in Hardwar exhibited some fine points about breath control, concentration, meditation, the audience was seen following him in the acts. He emphasised the need for promoting communal harmony satying the unity between Hindus and Muslims was the strength of the nation.

Famous Indian nuclear physicist Homi Jehangir Bhabha was born on 30 October 1909 in Mumbai. Bhabha played a key role in the development of the Indian atomic energy program. Widely referred to as the father of India’s nuclear weapons program, Bhabha had his education at the Elphinstone College and the Royal Institute of Science before obtaining his doctorate from the University of Cambridge in 1934. He was influenced greatly by the legendary Paul Dirac. Bhabha was a research scientist at the Cavendish Laboratories at Cambridge. When he was stranded in India as a result of the Second World War, he set up the Cosmic Ray Research Unit at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore under Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman in 1939.