Fast reaction

The Minister for Hajj and Religious Minorities of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Muhammad Yakub Qureshi, last week announced a reward of 11.5 million US dollars on the head of the author of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The BJP, the ruling party until the 2004 elections, demanded Qureshi's arrest. With his statement, he violated the country's constitution, the party leadership says. In Lucknow, where Kureshi's supporters held a rally a couple of days ago, BDT activists held a procession demanding the resignation and criminal prosecution of the minister.