Upset Hindus are seeking apology from The CW Network, a joint venture of Warner Bros. and CBS Corporation, for unnecessarily dragging the name of Hindu deity Savitr as a villain in the hit action television series “The Flash”.
Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that Hindu deities were divine and Hollywood was welcome to create projects about/around them showing their true depiction as mentioned in the Hindu scriptures. Reimagining Hindu deities/concepts/scriptures for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the feelings of devotees.
It was upsetting for the Hindu community when they learnt of their deity’s name linked to a frightening villain, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated and urged CW to not link Hindu deity’s name with a villain in the future episodes.
Hindu deities were meant to be worshipped in temples and home shrines and not to be thrown around loosely or dragged around unnecessarily for mercantile greed, Rajan Zed noted.
Zed pointed out that Hindus were for free speech as much as anybody else if not more. But faith was something sacred and attempts at belittling it hurt the devotees. Entertainment executives should be more sensitive while handling faith related subjects, Zed suggested.
Rajan Zed further said that Hindus welcomed entertainment world to immerse in Hinduism but taking it seriously and respectfully and not for refashioning Hinduism concepts and symbols for personal agendas. Attempts at distorting of Hindu deities were slighting of ancient Hindu traditions. He or other Hindu scholars would gladly help if industry needed any assistance in exploring Hinduism, Zed added.
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 frivolously. No faith, larger or smaller, should be mishandled, Zed stated.
Savitr is a name of the Sun god which finds mention in Rig-Veda, oldest existing scripture of mankind, to whom many hymns are addressed. Moksh (liberation) is the ultimate goal of Hinduism.
Award-winning “The Flash”, launched in 2014, airs on Tuesdays by CW Network, headquartered in Burbank (California), whose President is Mark Pedowitz. Savitr (Savitar) made its debut in Episode six of Season three, which was aired on November 15.
Source : From Our Correspondent
