Online retailer Amazon Canada removed underwear carrying image of Hindu deity Lord Ganesh from its website within few hours after upset Hindus protested calling it “highly inappropriate”.
“Women’s Ganesh Ganesa Ganapati 4 White Hipsters” with the image of Hindu deity Lord Ganesh on the hip on the underwear worn by the model on the Amazon.ca website, described as “Sexy Fashion Hipsters” and being sold for CDN$ 25.99 each, does not show up anymore.
Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, who spearheaded the protest asking for immediate withdrawal of this objectionable product, in a statement in Nevada today, thanked Amazon Canada for understanding the concerns of Hindu community which thought image of Lord Ganesh on such a product was highly insensitive.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, however, pointed out that a formal apology from Amazon Canada and Amazon.com President Jeffrey P. Bezos to the upset Hindu community was still due.
Rajan Zed suggested that Amazon and other companies should send their senior executives for training in religious and cultural sensitivity so that they had an understanding of the feelings of customers and communities when introducing new products or launching advertising campaigns.
Zed says that Lord Ganesh is highly revered in Hinduism and is meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to wear on your hips. Inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts for commercial or other agenda is not okay as it hurt the faithful.
Hinduism is 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. Symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled, Rajan Zed indicates.
Zed further says that such trivialization of Hindu deity was disturbing to the Hindus world over. Hindus are for free artistic expression and speech as much as anybody else if not more. But faith is something sacred and attempts at trivializing it hurt the followers, Zed adds.
In Hinduism, Lord Ganesh is worshipped as god of wisdom and remover of obstacles and is invoked before the beginning of any major undertaking.
Amazon.com, Inc., a Fortune 500 company founded in 1994, and headquartered in Seattle (USA), claims to offer earth’s biggest selection. Its Canada office is reportedly based in Toronto.
Source : From Our Correspondent
