Ganga slur: Hindu leaders approach Indian embassy

Hindu leaders have approached the Indian embassy in Washington DC and urged it to approach the United States government to seek an apology from Fox News regarding its comments about river Ganga, which they found denigrating.

Glenn Beck, talking about India in December nine segment titled This is the best America has to offer? of his opinion show The One Thing on Fox News channel, said:,"One big river they have there, that sounds like a disease. Come on it does. I mean if somebody said, I am sorry, you have a really bad case of Ganges."

Bhavna Shinde of the Forum for Hindu Awakening, in a communique to ambassador Meera Shankar, said, "Please take up this issue urgently with the appropriate authorities in the United States government, urging an apology from Fox News, its parent News Corporation and Glenn Beck, and assurances so that this unnecessary ridiculing of our faith and country does not happen in the future".

Meanwhile, acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement, said that the community was very upset with the remarks and the indifference of Fox News and its parent News Corporation regarding issuing a formal statement on this issue, despite protests. The river was considered holy by one billion Hindus, including nearly 2.3 million in the United States,  and such remarks were very painful to the devotees, Zed said.

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged Fox and its owner News Corporation to be more sensitive when handling faith related subjects, as television was a forceful medium.