US: Alabama blocks bill lifting ban on yoga in schools after objections from conservatives

The US state of Alabama has blocked a yoga bill that would have lifted a decades-old ban on the popular age-old Indian practice in public schools after objections from conservative groups who feared that followers of Hinduism could engage in conversion.

The US state of Alabama has blocked a yoga bill that would have lifted a decades-old ban on the popular age-old Indian practice in public schools after objections from conservative groups who feared that followers of Hinduism could engage in conversion, according to a media report. Pushed by conservative groups, the Alabama Board of Education in 1993 had voted to prohibit yoga, along with hypnosis and meditation in public schools in the southeastern state. Last year in March, the Alabama House of Representatives voted 84-17 to pass the “Yoga Bill” which was moved by state legislator Jeremy Gray from the Democratic Party.