Hindu Board Calls For Murder Of Controversial Artist

WebIndia123 today has a rather astounding report from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It says that after the state's Haj Minister, Haji Yaqub Qureshi, offered a reward of 510 million Rupees (approx. $11.5 million) to anyone who killed the Danish cartoonist who drew the now-infamous caricatures of Muhammad, the state's Hindu Personal Law Board decided to follow suit. It announced a similar reward for anyone beheading prominent artist M.F.Hussain. Hussain is charged with portraying Hindu deities and Bharat Mata in the nude. His painting was displayed on a website, and in an exhibition in New Delhi. Ashok Pandey, president of the Hindu Personal Law Board was quoted as saying:

Those who are endangering religion and nation, should be eliminated for everyone's good. Anyone who kills Hussain for making obscene paintings of goddess Sarswati and Bharat Mata, the Danish cartoonist, those in the German company printing pictures of Ram and Krishna on tissue paper and the French filmmaker desecrating Lord Shiva will be given Rs 51 crore in cash.

Hussain has apologized and withdrawn the picture from auction.