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Alabama votes to end yoga ban in schools, but learning ‘namaste’ still forbidden

Alabama House of Representatives approves bill that allows primary and secondary schools to decide if they want to teach yoga, but yoga poses must have English names.

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New Delhi: The yoga ban in Alabama schools might be ending but there was push back against it from Americans who see yoga as “part of Hinduism”.

For decades, public schools in the US state of Alabama had banned yoga, but that could soon change.

According to a 11 March report in TIME, the Alabama House of Representatives approved a bill to allow the state’s school system to decide if it wants to have yoga in schools giving primary and secondary education. The bill has now moved to the Alabama Senate, the report says.

There are still caveats on how much yoga will be allowed in schools. The activity will be limited to poses and stretches while teaching ‘namaste’ as a greeting is “forbidden”. Using chanting and mantras will also not be allowed.

The report in the TIME adds that the bill states yoga postures and exercises “must have exclusively English names”.

Hindu groups in Alabama welcomed the move, calling it a “step in the right direction”.

While the bill “expressly prohibited chanting, mantras, mudras, use of mandalas, and namaste greetings” and dictated usage of “exclusively English descriptive names”, it was still good for the overall well-being of Alabamans, said Universal Society of Hinduism president Rajan Zed in a statement.


Also read: How regular yoga practice led to peace of mind, less anxiety during lockdown — IIT Delhi study


Argument against yoga

While the bill earned a majority vote in favour of it in the Alabama House of Representatives, 25 representatives of the 105-member House voted against it.

Some representatives had received, “a lot emails about it being part of Hinduism”, according to Democratic Rep. Jeremy Gray who sponsored the bill.

Gray was quoted as saying: “Some people’s minds you can never change…” in the TIME report.

Gray, who had been introduced to yoga through football while playing in university, says yoga exercises can help bring mental and physical benefits to school-going children.

“I’ve been in yoga for seven years. I know the benefits of yoga, so it was very dear to my heart, and I think Alabama will be better for it,” Gray said.

He had added that students will have the option to not do yoga and instead engage in other activities.

The yoga ban in Alabama schools came in 1993 after the Alabama Board of Education voted to prohibit yoga along with hypnosis and meditation in public schools. Conservative groups had wanted yoga banned at the time.

In 2018, the 1993 yoga ban received renewed attention after a document resurfaced that showed yoga as an “inappropriate” activity during physical education classes, the TIME report says.

Cut to the Covid era, Gray had said he “understood” gym teachers had been giving yoga lessons before realising it was banned and that there were others who wanted to teach it as well, especially during virtual learning.

(Edited by Manasa Mohan)

This report has been updated with reactions from a Hindu group.


Also read: International student enrollment at US colleges drops by most since 2003


 

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