Upset Hindus are urging Sheffield (England) headquartered giftware wholesaler Ancient Wisdom for immediate withdrawal of socks carrying images of Hindu deity Lord Ganesha; calling it highly inappropriate.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, also urged Ancient Wisdom Marketing Limited and its CEO to offer a formal apology, besides withdrawing Lord Ganesha socks from its website, warehouses and showroom. 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, Rajan Zed noted.
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 were painful for 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.
Ancient Wisdom, established 1995, claims to stock about 10,000 product lines; importing from India, Indonesia, Nepal and China; and delivering across the United Kingdom and Europe. Its website states about these socks: Socks with a pattern depicting Ganesha, the Hindu god. He is considered the god of wisdom and intellect, and the god who opens the door to success.