Shankar agreed to the proposal and said the Art of Living programme should aim at a wider coverage involving a cross-section of the Iraqi society.
Harmeet Shah Singh
BAGHDAD: Prisoners in war-ravaged Iraq could soon get a lesson in the 'art of living', with Baghdad extending a special invitation to Indian spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to conduct meditation sessions for the jail inmates.
"Can we do it for prisoners in Iraq?," Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki asked Shankar during a meeting with him here last evening, wanting to know if the spiritual guru could conduct meditation and breathing lessons for Iraqi prisoners.
Shankar agreed to the proposal and said the Art of Living programme should aim at a wider coverage involving a cross-section of the Iraqi society.
"We believe there should be conflict resolution through these programmes. We have Art of Living centres in Iraq. But we would like to reach out to different groups," he said.
The Prime Minister sounded disappointed with the pace of Iraq's rebuilding. "Big powers are big enough... but they are not able to unite humans, people together," an interpreter quoted him as telling Shankar.
With his country suffering a sharp spike in casualties from insurgent attacks, al-Maliki said he believed humanitarian organisations can play a key role in rebuilding efforts.
His government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told PTI that pullout of coalition forces was not possible until Iraq is able to have national forces of its own.
"We can ask them to leave only after we have our own national forces. We want them to equip our troops and make them ready...," the Prime Minister remarked when asked whether there was any timeline for pullout of international troops.
He, however, praised India for its democracy, but noted that both countries faced a common scourge of militancy.
The spiritual leader heads the world's biggest non-governmental organisation and 25 million people in 151 countries have attended his courses.
His group raises hundreds of millions of dollars a year and spends almost all on running schools, de-addiction centres and on charity.
"Using breathing makes it easier for people to calm their mind and go into meditation. It provides physical, mental, emotional and spiritual help," he told the Iraqi leader explaining how meditation and breathing exercises work.
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