Upset Hindus are urging reportedly Murrieta (California) based water sports clothing firm Bbosi Sports for immediate withdrawal of men’s water polo suit carrying image of Hindu deity Lord Ganesh; calling it highly inappropriate.
Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that Lord Ganesh was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to adorn one’s crotch/groin or 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 Bbosi Sports to offer a formal apology, besides withdrawing Lord Ganesh men’s water polo suit.
Hinduism was 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 deities was disturbing for the Hindus. 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. There are about three million Hindus in USA.
Bbosi Sports specializes in “water sports clothes such as water polo, swimming, triathlon, underwater hockey and rugby” and sells women’s and men’s water polo suits, women’s swim suits, water polo caps. Its slogan is “Gobbosi… Personalize your lifestyle”. Bbosi Ganesh men’s water polo suit was priced at $35 and was stated to be “chlorine resistant”.
Source: World Hindu News (WHN)