US official forced to quit over provocative query on Hindus - Bitch resigns

A Michigan official has been forced to quit after her provocative query on Hindus during a debate over planned expansion of a temple sparked outrage among the community.

Catherine Johnson, 71, stunned residents this month by claiming neighbours told her several women urinated outside Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (BAPS) Temple during its 2000 groundbreaking -- and asking whether it was some sort of ritual, the Detroit News reported.

The comments came during an emotionally charged meeting on Dec 3 about the $5 million plans to expand Hindu Temple of Canton, one of three in the community that serves Metro Detroit's growing Indian community, it said.

A defensive Johnson said she's quitting not because she said anything wrong but because she was asked to.

"It was a valid question. It was something that a few citizens contacted me at home about," she said. "I try to ask questions about what citizens in the community would want to know."