A June 2 story in the Tampa Tribune about cannibalism in
India has angered Indian Americans, who said the article paints a
sensationalistic picture of their homeland and the Hindu religion, reports San
Leandro, Calif. weekly India West.
George Coryell, a reporter at the Tampa Tribune, wrote about the Aghoris, a
small and obscure Hindu sect that practices cannibalism.
The Aghoris believe that eating human flesh breaks the cycle of life and death.
The story sparked complaints. (It) gives the impression that foreigners come
to India, get lost and are eaten by cannibals, complained Tampa engineer
Nainan Desai, who is leading efforts to organize protests. There are over
10,000 Indians in the Tampa Bay area. Indians are aggrieved that their country
and religion are being mischaracterized by the story.
Desai complained the only representative of the Indian-American community
quoted in the article, an adjunct lecturer on eastern religions at the
University of South Florida, is buried deep in the story.
The paper has been inundated with angry emails from India American readers. We
went out of our way to point out that this was a unique sect and not representative
of Hinduism, said deputy managing editor, Lawrence Fletcher.