Hindu group wants statue on Capitol grounds

A monument to Confederate women stands on the grounds of the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock on Tuesday, July 7, 2015. Statues and memorials could be joined by a monument of a Hindu monkey-faced god turning the Arkansas Capitol into a menagerie after the Legislature's decision to allow a privately funded Ten Commandments display.
A monument to Confederate women stands on the grounds of the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock on Tuesday, July 7, 2015. Statues and memorials could be joined by a monument of a Hindu monkey-faced god turning the Arkansas Capitol into a menagerie after the Legislature's decision to allow a privately funded Ten Commandments display.

A Hindu group is the latest organization to express interest in erecting a religious statue on the Arkansas Capitol grounds.

Universal Society of Hinduism President Rajan Zed said in a statement Tuesday that his organization would like to construct a privately funded statue of Lord Hanuman, a Hindu god, "at no expense to the state."

Zed noted that Hutchinson signed into law April 8 a bill to add a privately funded Ten Commandments monument on Capitol grounds. The bill was sponsored by state Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow. Rapert told the Associated Press on Monday that the monument could go up by the end of the year.

The Associated Press previously reported that The Satanic Temple, which advocates for the separation of church and state, has also expressed interest in bringing a statue of its deity to the Arkansas Capitol. The group originally created the 8½-foot-tall bronze Baphomet statue to be placed at the Oklahoma Capitol but nixed those plans after the state's Supreme Court ruled that a Ten Commandments monument there had to be removed.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Tuesday at a news conference that the state should "be careful of what monuments" are placed on Capitol grounds. He made the remarks to reporters after announcing plans for an interfaith summit to address the need for more foster homes and societal-reentry services for former inmates.

"We don't want just every group putting statues on Capitol grounds," Hutchinson said.

Zed said the Hindu statue would "honor" the state's Hindus and "raise awareness of Arkansans about Hinduism, [the] oldest and third-largest religion of the world."

Hutchinson said additional monuments on Capitol grounds would require legislative action and approval by the secretary of state.

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