Rajan Zed, President of the Universal Society of Hinduism, demands Australia-based online marketplace MyDeal.com.au to withdraw a playing card deck from its online store. The mentioned item features images of various Hindu deities, which is why it was labeled as highly inappropriate.
As Zed indicated, placing greatly venerated Hindu deities—Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Krishna, Parvati, Radha, etc.—on a deck of cards was highly disrespectful. Besides withdrawing “Divine Art Playing Cards Hindu Mythology” from the company’s online store, Zed also seeks a formal apology from their CEO.
Launched in 2012, the award-winning online store claims to be “Australia’s most trusted online marketplace” and “leaders in Australian retail & technology.” Offering a wide palette of products, the company’s equipped with “Everything for your home,” serving over 500,000 customers, and over two million parcels shipped Australia-wide.
Trivialization of Religion
In a statement in Nevada (USA), Zed commented that Hindu deities were highly revered in Hinduism, and such banalization of their Gods disturbs their religious community worldwide.
The statesman also clarified that…
... they were meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be tossed/shuffled around with unwashed hands at gambling card games including poker at casinos or other places, drinking card games, card throwing competitions, “sleight of hand” entertainment, etc.
He also stressed that inappropriate usage of Hindu deities, concepts or symbols for commercial or other agendas was not okay as it hurt the devotees. Even though Hindus were for free artistic expression and speech, the faith was something sacred and attempts at trivializing it hurt the followers.
More Companies Faced Similar Issues
This is not the first situation where a company was asked to apologize and remove the problematic product from its offering due to offending Hindu community.
The most recent example was Ganesha Gold Slot produced by Pocket Games Soft. Pointing out that “symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled,” Zed also urged the supplier to withdraw the release from their catalog, and apologize to the supporters.
In September 2018…
…Endorphina faced similar issues, and it was asked to recall Durga Slot from the market, due to associating the Hindu goddess of positive divine forces with inadequate content.
Several years ago, in December 2014, Merkur, a division of the Gausselmann group was asked to remove Shiva Slot, due to utilizing divine characters in gambling content.
Being the oldest and third largest religion of the world…
…with about 1.1 billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought, Hinduism should not be taken frivolously. According to the 2016 census, it is one of the fastest-growing religions in Australia gathering more than 440,300 believers.
Source:
“Upset Hindus urge Melbourne firm to withdraw Hindu gods playing cards deck & apologize”, Rajan Zed, February 11, 2020.
bridgetjones
4 years ago
Honestly, when you think for a while, there’s no game depicting and using deities from other religions, at least not directly, so maybe they have the point.
Please enter your comment.
Your comment is added.