Upset Hindus are urging Melbourne headquartered online retail giant Kogan.com for immediate withdrawal of all six versions of beach-towel, sold at its subsidiary Matt Blatt, carrying image of Hindu deity Lord Ganesh; calling it highly inappropriate.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that Lord Ganesh was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not for wiping various parts of your body, lie/sit/stand/walk on it, drying pet-animals, placing your shoes/stuff on it; for mercantile greed. Inappropriate usage of sacred Hindu deities or concepts or symbols or icons for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, also urged Kogan.com Limited Board Chairman Greg Ridder and CEO Ruslan Kogan to offer a formal apology, besides withdrawing the objectionable Lord Ganesh beach-towels.
Kogan.com, whose “fundamental principles” included “ethical behaviour” and “respect”; should not be in the business of religious appropriation, sacrilege, and ridiculing entire communities. It was deeply trivializing of immensely venerated Hindu deity Lord Ganesh to be displayed on a beach-towel, Rajan Zed emphasized.
Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.2 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; Zed noted.
Rajan Zed further said that such trivialization of Hindu deities 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 Ganesh is worshipped as god of wisdom and remover of obstacles and is invoked before the beginning of any major undertaking. Hinduism is one of the fastest growing religions in Australia, and according to 2016 census, formed 1.9% of the country’s population numbering at 440,300.
The objectionable microfiber Ganesh beach-towels ranged from $49.95 to $79.95. Customers were told to “enjoy the sunny day at the beach or have a blast picnicking in the park” with the towel, which “can be used to lie on the warm beach sand or fresh-cut grass”.
