Summon US envoy over 'Kali-Ma' beer, says BJP

The issue of a beer named "Kali-Ma", after the Hindu goddess Kali, being sold by a company in the US was raised in the Rajya Sabha Tuesday with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanding that the government immediately summon the US ambassador.

The beer, by the Burnside Brewing Company based in Oregon state, also has a picture of  the goddess on the bottles. Stating that the religious feelings of Hindus were being hurt, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said: "The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government claims good relations with the US... Is there no manufacturing code there."

Raising the issue in zero hour, he asked: "Can they show the god of any other faith like this." The BJP member asked the government to "summon the American ambassador" immediately.

Replying to the issue, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla said he would "inform the external affairs minister (S.M. Krishna) immediately".