Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Murphy Pakiam has expressed his displeasure over the image of Jesus Christ published in Tamil daily Makkal Osai yesterday.

The picture, published on the front page of the daily beside the masthead, had Jesus Christ holding a cigarette in one hand and a beer can in the other hand.

The message that accompanied the picture encouraged sinners to repent.

The picture and the message was part of the daily's regular 'thoughts for the day' feature which highlighted famous quotations of world leaders and philosophers.

Murphy, in a press statement, described the picture as a "desecration and therefore hurtful to the religious sentiments of Catholics".

"The picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is very sacred to Catholics as it depicts the heart of Jesus burning with love and tenderness for all people," he said.

"It is certainly in bad taste for the editor of Makkal Osai to publish such a picture, although the message in the accompanying words is an attempt to call repentant sinners to hope and salvation," he added.

Open apology

When contacted, Makkal Osai news editor BR Rajen said the staff who was responsible for allowing the image to be published has been suspended indefinitely.

"We have also printed an apology in today's issue. We have explained what happened on our side," he said, adding that the publication of the picture was not done with any bad intention.

The apology, carried over prominently in the second page, stated that the editorial team of the daily regretted publishing the picture.

"The leaders and philosophers with their respective message to the society are meant as food for the brains," the apology read, adding that the featured picture was taken from the Internet.

"However, we regret this incident where Jesus Christ, who has gone through so much of pain for mankind and left valuable messages for all of us, was featured in such a manner," ran the apology.

Murphy, when contacted later, said he accepted Makkal Osai 's apology and considered the matter as closed.

Revoke the permit

However others were not so forgiving.

Bernama reported that the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism (MCCBCHS) wants the authorities to investigate the Tamil newspaper and take action against those behind the publication of the picture.

And the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Malaysia took a harder stance calling for a ban on Makkal Osai .

MIC too got into the picture with its deputy president G Palanivel asking the government to act against the paper as it had hurt the feelings of Christians in the country.

At the same time, the MIC Youth submitted a four-page memorandum to the Prime Minister's Department this morning asking the government to revoke Makkal Osai 's publication permit.

And in the afternoon, a party member lodged a police report on the matter at the Tun HS Lee police station in Kuala Lumpur, saying that it was to prevent a repeat of the publication which insulted Christians.