Thu 2 December, 2004 15:42
By Jason Hopps
LONDON (
Reuters)
"Coronation Street", Britain's longest-running soap, is at the centre of a religious row after Hindus expressed shock at a scene that showed a Hindu statue being wielded as a weapon.
The Hindu Forum of Britain, the largest umbrella body for British Hindus, complained to producers ITV after a character threatened to hit another with a statue of the elephant-headed God Lord Ganesh.
Hindus consider Ganesh, the remover of obstacles on the spiritual path, one of the greatest demi-Gods in their pantheon.
ITV apologised but a spokesman for the Hindu Forum said the Hindu community was greatly offended by the "irresponsible" scene.
"They have apologised and we are happy that the show has agreed to consult us for any future research on the Hindu religion," Hindu Forum spokesman Ramesh Kallidai said on Thursday.
"But we are still concerned because so many people in the Hindu community have been upset and they expressed their concerns to us. ITV seems to have a double standard. Would they show someone using a Koran as a weapon? Probably not," he added.
In a written apology, ITV spokesman David Nugent said the original scene was to show one character hitting another with the statue, but that it was modified for being "deeply offensive".
In the scene that aired, the statue is waved in a threatening gesture then banged on a table.
"Coronation Street", first broadcast in black and white as far back as 1960, has evolved from a parochial look at pub and cafe life in the northern city of Manchester to a racier programme that embraces the full spectrum of modern, multi-cultural Britain.
In recent years, episodes have tended towards the lurid, include serial killings and sex scandals, as it competes with newer soaps that embrace the shocking to win youthful viewers.
