Washington, Dec 14 : The Ganges, a river held sacred by the Hindus, "sounds like a disease", a Fox News commentator has said, drawing protests from the Hindu community.

Fox News Channel's Glenn Beck criticised the Ganges in his opinion show "The One Thing", Hindupad. com reported.

He said: "One big river they have there, that sounds like a disease. Come on, it does. I mean if somebody said, I am sorry, you have a really bad case of Ganges."

Hindu leader Rajan Zed said that the Ganges was sacred to Hindus worldwide and Beck's remarks were "very hurtful to the devotees".(IANS)