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Hindustan Times
YOGA CAN REFORM CRIMINALS
MUNGER, Nov 4 (PTI) – Yoga, the ancient Indian system of meditation and self-control can do wonders for hardened criminals and help tremendously in their total assimilation in the .society, modern research shows.
If every saint has a past, every sinner has a future. Yoga can work as a catalytic agent and expedite the reformation process among the criminals, Mr. S. V. Vyavahare, project in-charge and head of the Yoga Research Center, Thane, said in his research paper at the World Yoga Conference here on Tuesday.
His paper on "Jail Reforms Through Yogic Methods" said regular and proper yogic exercises brought about complete transformation among criminals and prepared them to go into the society as useful citizens.
Mr. Vyavahare's project, launched at the Thane prison, was aimed at totally changing the personality of the inmates by removing inner imbalances and outer tensions through yoga.
Mr. Vyavahare said it was unfortunate that though jail reforms world over aimed at doing things that would keep alive optimism in the minds of prisoners, worthwhile efforts were still to be made in that direction.
In spite of reforms, sadly enough, the attitude of the society towards the outlaws and vice versa remains unchanged. The feeling that once a criminal,
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always a criminal is wrong. Yoga can unfold for them as well as the society a new atmosphere conducive to absorption of the criminals as active and useful members of the society, he said.
He said 80 inmates of the Thane prison joined the project voluntarily to undergo yogic training which was imparted to them for three months with extremely encouraging results.
Yoga, Mr Vyavahare said, helped in removing the knots in the minds of prisoners which facilitated a change in their entire outlook towards life without causing any side effects.
Mr. Vyavahare said the jail inmates practised 'trataka'.
He said, the prisoners, even after completion of three months training continued it and 13 out of 80 volunteered to become yoga teachers and they were imparted further training.
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Mr. Vyavahare said the prisoners who took a written examination and viva voce after
training obtained very good
marks with some of them securing as high as 87 per cent. Interestingly, no one failed in the
tests.
The training while improving their physical strength also brought about positive psychological changes. Their anger decreased, a feeling of tranquillity was noticed and there was tremendous improvement in their inter-personal relationships, he said.
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