Sri Ganesha depicted with a pistol, Vodka and smoking marijuana [ Illinois , U.S.A ]

[ Reported as seen ]

E-commerce firm, Pixels, depicted Sri Ganesha with objectionable products making him look like a “ Gangsta”. The God was shown smoking marijuana wrapped in a cigar case, a pistol in one hand and Ciroc (French Vodka) bottle in the other, with cannabis leaf glued to his forehead. The picture was displayed on various products sold on Pixels website.

Talking of the sacrilege, Hindu community leader Rajan Zed said, E-commerce companies should not be in the business of sacrilege, religious appropriation and ridiculing entire communities. It was deeply offensive to show immensely venerated Sri Ganesh as a “gangsta” (member of an inner-city street gang); Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated.

Rajan Zed emphasized that Sri Ganesh was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be mocked at and paraded in a reimagined version as “gangsta” for mercantile objectives. 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 further said that Hindu Dharma 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.

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 adherents, Rajan Zed stated.