Bhopal, Jan 12 (IANS) Amid a fatwa from Muslim clerics and objections from the Christian community, the Madhya Pradesh government Thursday held its proposed Surya Namaskar yogic exercise in government schools, officials said.

The day is also celebrated as Yuwa Diwas, the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand, and the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government planned to set a Guinness World Record in multi-location aerobic exercise on the occasion.

However, Muslim clerics issued a fatwa saying the yogic exercise is un-Islamic and a Christian body named Isai Mahasangh termed the government’s plan as unconstitutional and objected to it Wednesday.

The programme was held from 9 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. and lakhs of students participated in it across the state.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also participated in one such exercise in the state capital.

But other ministers of the Shivraj cabinet who had to participate in the exercise in different parts of the state did not show much enthusiasm. Industry Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya who was slated to participate in Indore did not do so, according to reports.

The earlier world record in the such a category belongs to Kazakhstan where 48,45,098 people participated.