Normally, I don't report on yogic news outside of the US, but the idea that yoga has been banned in Malaysia by a body called The National Fatwa Council is definitely news.
This story has been circulating in smaller international papers recently but last week NPR picked it up.
The objection is similar to that of some US Christians and parents: that yoga's spiritual roots in Hinduism could interfere with the dissemination of the 'true truth.' The NPR story, reported from Kuala Lumpur, says, "News of the yoga ban prompted activist Marina Mahathir to wonder what the council will ban next: "What next? Gyms? Most gyms have men and women together. Will that not be allowed any more?"
Well, the council also outlawed tomboys. That's right, it's illegal to be a girl who looks or acts too much like a boy.
Move aside Salman Rushdie. It's fatwa yoga time.
Nov 29, Epilogue: Apparently, the Malaysian Sultans who each take turn as king, were not amused by the fatwa council's recommendation, and issued a rebuke to the decree, which might still be overturned.