Row over cartoon on bishop Mulakkal hits Kerala

A row has erupted in Kerala over a state-run akademi honouring a cartoon depicting Bishop Franco Mullakal as a rooster and alluding to the charge of rape against him with a furious Church condemning it as vulgar and saying it amounted to humiliating Christian symbols.

As the Kerala Catholic Bishop Council (KCBC) demanded withdrawal of the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi's decision to confer the best cartoon award, the CPI-M led LDF government Wednesday ordered the akademi to re-examine the matter.

The KCBC asked whether the LDF government was targeting the Christians after reaching a conclusion that the minority community did not stand with the CPI(M) during the recent Lok Sabha elections, in which the Left front won only one of the 20 seats.