"Hinduism is an evolving religion and the Bhartiya Janata Party is going to pay a heavy price if they try to become the sole protectors of the religion," Professor Shivaji K Panikkar, the dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at M S University in Vadodra who has been placed under suspension for three months for defending student artist Chandramohan who depicted Jesus Christ in a 'distasteful manner'.

"There is no question of me going back to the university at the moment but I am going back to Vadodra because that is where my research work and plans are. I cannot leave my students in the lurch," he said.

Speaking to rediff.com at his Siddarth Extension residence in South Delhi, Panikkar defended the student by contending that the offending caricature was meant only for examination purposes and not to be put up in a gallery.

He also claimed that some caricatures of Prophet have suddenly appeared with forged signatures of Chandramohan to tarnish the image of the student.

He found nothing wrong in painting the religious heads in nude. "You look at the Sun Temple, Khajuraho, the paintings are vividly sexual in nature and yet nobody ever objected to it. Our students learn from nudity," he said.