London: Britain's state-owned Royal Mail apologised on Wednesday after Hindus complained about a new Christmas stamp which depicts the image of a Hindu couple with a Christ-like baby.
"The Royal Mail has apologised if people feel we have been insensitive," said company spokesman Patrick O'Neill.
"It was not intentional. We wanted to look at the theme of the mother and child for this Christmas and how that theme is represented in international art," he added.
The image for the stamp, which has a face value of 68 pence, the amount needed to send letters to the Indian sub-continent was sourced from a painting that hangs in a museum in Mumbai.
"We thought it insensitive and inappropriate," said Ramesh Kallidai of the Hindu Forum of Britain.
"The markings on the foreheads immediately say the male person is a Hindu Vaishnava and the lady is a Hindu lady and they are worshipping Jesus Christ," he told BBC radio.
"In India, the conversion agenda of evangelical Christians is a major emotive issue," he added.
The Royal Mail said millions of the stamps, which became available from post offices on Tuesday, have already been sold and that it has no plans to withdraw it.
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