Amazon.com, world’s largest online retailer headquartered in Seattle (USA), has removed the women’s leggings carrying images of various Hindu gods and goddesses from its website within 24 hours after Hindus protested.
Hindu cleric Rajan Zed, who spearheaded the protest, thanked Amazon.com for understanding the concerns of Hindu community, which thought images of Hindu gods and goddesses on leggings were highly inappropriate.
Amazon.com website had removed 11 leggings priced at $48-52 each and carrying images of Ganesha, Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu, Muruga, Bajrang Bali (Hanuman), Rama, Radha-Krishna, Kali, etc. when checked on October 14 late evening. Hindu devotees had vociferously objected to these leggings.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, suggested Amazon.com and other corporations to 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.
He had earlier said that Hindu gods and goddesses were highly revered in Hinduism and were meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be worn around one’s legs, crotch and hips. Inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees.
Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1 billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken lightly. Symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled, Zed had argued.
Zed had also pointed out that such trivialization of Hindu gods and goddesses 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.
There are about 3 million Hindus in USA.
