Update : It can be confirmed that INKnBURN has removed Ganesha shorts after Hindus’ protest. The website link, on which the said product was kept for sale, is not working and shows ‘404 error- page not found’. Let us offer gratitude at the holy feet of Shri Ganesha for this success.
Upset Hindus are urging Santa Ana (California, USA) based athletic clothing brand INKnBURN for immediate withdrawal of shorts carrying image of Hindu deity Lord Ganesha; calling it highly inappropriate.
Distinguished 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 adorn one’s thighs-hips-buttocks. Inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts or symbols for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, also urged INKnBURN and its CEO to offer a formal apology; besides withdrawing ‘Women’s Shakti 6″ Shorts’ from its website, Warehouse Store, other retailers in USA and abroad.
Devout Hindus are protesting lawfully against INKnBURN with similar demand :
- Twitter : https://twitter.com/INKnBURN
- Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/INKnBURN
- Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/inknburn/
- Email : [email protected]
- Phone : +1-714-389-4114
Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.1 billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken frivolously. Symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled; Rajan Zed noted.
Zed further said that such trivialization of Hindu deity 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.
In Hinduism, Lord Ganesha is worshipped as god of wisdom and remover of obstacles and is invoked before the beginning of any major undertaking. There are about three million Hindus in USA.
Objectionable ‘Women’s Shakti 6″ Shorts’, “Inspired by Ganesha” was priced at $64.95
INKnBURN, founded 2008, whose mission is “to brighten the world with great art”, claims to have created over 800 designs. Besides website and Santa Ana Warehouse Store; its products sell in other retail outlets in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas; and has international presence in France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, United Kingdom. Its products include “limited edition” “handcrafted athletic apparel for men, women, and kids”. “Distance yourself from the crowd with INKnBURN!”, it states.
Source : From Our Correspondent
