The head of India's FilmCertification board Anupam Kher has been sacked by the government and replacedby actress Sharmila Tagore.

Appointed for a three-year tenure,Kher has been chief censor for just one year and had recently cleared twocontroversial films, a documentary on the Gujarat riots, Final Solutionsby Rakesh Sharma, and Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11.

Kher said, "I will put up a fight against the CentralGovernment. The witch-hunt harks back to America's McCarthyism period.'

Kher's immediate predecessors include the late actordirector Vijay Anand, who also had to leave amidst controversy following hisrecommendation that X-rated films be certified and shown in special theatres.