Severed cow's head used in Malaysian protest

In a rather gruesome incident twelve Muslims have been charged in Malaysia with illegal assembly and six of them have been charged with sedition, which is defined as an act that may engender "feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races", after parading a severed cow's head in a protest against the planned relocation of a Hindu temple to their neighborhood.

The protesters defense lawyer tried to explain it away by saying that his clients did not intend to offend Hindus, and carried the cow head only as a symbol of the state government's "stupidity". "It is not a serious offence. If you look at the Malay culture, the cow is synonymous to stupidity and not meant to insult other religions," he said.

Hindus, who hold cows sacred, considering them to be a mother, are not accepting that explanation.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/09/2009997436137952…