"Blatant violation to secular nature...": IMA Kerala objects to NMC's logo depicting Hindu deity

New Delhi [India], December 3 (ANI): A controversy erupted over the change of logo of the National Medical Commission (NMC) after the Indian Medical Association, Kerala strongly condemned the new logo which depicted a Hindu deity and replaced 'India' with 'Bharat'.

The National Medical Commission drew ire from the Indian Medical Association Kerala for the redesigning of the NMC logo. Condemning the new logo, IMA Kerala stated that "the present logo is a blatant violation to the secular nature of the country and the purity of medical science, which stands above any religion or any ideas of polarization. This is science and science should be left as it is".
IMA Kerala President, Dr Sulphi Noohu took to his social media handle to condemn the new logo of the NMC.
"The policy of the Indian Medical Association is to treat all caste and religious groups equally. The national leadership of the Indian Medical Association will speak out strongly against changing the logo", he said in a post on Facebook.
The Indian Medical Association's Kerala branch also wrote a letter to the chairman of the National Medical Commission saying that the logo was "not acceptable to the modern medical fraternity" and demanded immediate action on the same.
"The new logo gives a wrong message and will harm the scientific and secular nature of the commission. Members of the profession have already raised their voice against this unacceptable move", the letter stated.
Amid a huge uproar, NMC spokesperson Dr Yogendra Malik came out in defence of the new logo and said that the same logo has been there for the past year.
"The logo earlier has a Greek God of medicine and healthcare in it and the logo that you see in the present has an image of Lord Dhanvantri, which was already there, it has just been coloured. This has been our logo for the past one year", Dr Yogendra Malik said. (ANI)