Upset Hindus have urged world’s largest online retailer Amazon.com headquartered in Seattle for the immediate withdrawal of pants carrying image of Lord Ganesha and sold on its website, calling it inappropriate.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that Lord Ganesha was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be worn around one’s legs, crotch and hips. Inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, also urged Amazon.com to offer a formal apology.
Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken lightly. Symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled, Rajan Zed argued.
Zed further said that such trivialization of Lord Ganesha was disturbing to the Hindus world over. Hindus were for free artistic expression and speech as much as anybody else if not more. But faith was something sacred and attempts at trivializing it hurt the followers, Zed added.
Pants which Hindu devotees are finding objectionable include “Ganesha’s Dream Hot Pant” ($65.95-$69.95)” and “Ganesha’s Dream Bell Bottoms” ($74.95-$78.95). Publisher’s Note: It’s too bad that some people are finding these pants offensive, as they are very cute …
Amazon.com, Inc., a Fortune 500 company founded in 1994, claims to offer “Earth’s Biggest Selection”. Jeffrey P. Bezos is President.
In Hinduism, Lord Ganesha is worshipped as god of wisdom and remover of obstacles and is invoked before the beginning of any major undertaking.