A Republican leader in Texas has sparked a controversy by publicly opposing the installation of a 90-foot idol of Lord Hanuman, describing the Hindu deity as a “false god” and declaring that the “United States is a Christian nation”.

Alexander Duncan, a prominent state Republican figure and senate candidate, took to social media to criticise the “Statue of Union” in Sugar Land, Texas. The idol is the fourth-tallest in the US and the tallest depiction of Hanuman outside India.

“Why are we allowing a false statue of a false Hindu God to be here in Texas? We are a CHRISTIAN nation!” Duncan wrote in one post. In another post, he quoted biblical verses from Exodus and Romans, calling the statue an “idol” and urging Americans to remain “one nation under God… Jesus Christ, the King of Kings”.

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