Ganesh idol with mobile phone provokes uproar in Malaysia
Agence France-Presse
Kuala Lumpur, September 25
Malaysian shops selling imported statues of Lord Ganesh talking on a mobile phone have been warned to remove them immediately after local Hindu groups raised an outcry, reports said on Thursday.
"Those selling them will be warned, while those caught a second time will be slapped with a summons," Home Ministry spokesman Mohamad Shah Ismail was quoted as saying by The Sun.
The appearance in local shops of Lord Ganesh wearing shoes, a turban and using a hand phone caused outrage among Hindus earlier this week.
"The altered statues are offensive and give a distorted depiction of Lord Ganesha," chairman of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam Penang state council P Murugiah said.
"On behalf of the local Hindu community, we demand that the importers and distributors of the statues stop selling the degrading statues," he was quoted as saying.
Indians make up eight per cent of Malaysia's 23 million population, which has a Malay Muslim majority.
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