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HINDU BELIEFS & DEITIES TEND TO BE RIDICULED Periodic outrage Every now and then in Europe or North America, there is an outcry from Hindu devotees that their deities, customs or beliefs have been misrepresented or belittled in the media or misused in some way. Protests may be made, the offending item asked to be withdrawn or an apology demanded. We have a lull before we hear of another such incident in the media. Examples: Here is a sample of incidents and the responses made. 1. Ridiculing customs The US cartoon feature South Park is shown on terrestrial Channel 4 & satellite Sky one in Britain. One of the characters is Apu, the Asian shopkeeper. UK Asian shopkeepers have not been happy with Apu's babu image - dark-skinned, not very articulate or assertive. In mid 2000, one episode included the jingle: "Hey there Mr Hindu, Merry f*****g Christmas. Drink eggnog and eat some beef and pass it to the Mrs." How did Asians in the UK react? Most didn't bother but Mr Vipen Aery, Gen Sec of the National Association of Hindu Temples was mortally offended: "There are no words to describe the insult Hindus will feel by this song. I cannot understand the people making such offensive programmes. They are brainless." Brainless they are not. Did Aery mean 'insensitive'? He forgets that western society is basically godless and market-driven. Money making is the central value and if money can be made from sex, religion, ridiculing minorities, whatever - the entrepreneurs will do it. Mr Aery just got emotional - pity he did not ask why Hindus tend to be targeted. Not that Christian icons are respected. Hardly. In 1997, a Manchester artist (Michael Brown) had a painting of the Resurrection of Christ using the French football player Eric Cantona in place of Christ. In 1999, the play Corpus Christi depicted Christ as a homosexual and was shown - despite complaints. 2. Hanuman turned into a demon In the Hollywood movie Tomb Raider, it seems that a Hanuman statue comes to life in the shape of a demon and goes for the heroine Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) who slays him. In Dec 2001 Shiv Sena activists reportedly protested in Delhi : "They have turned Hanuman into a demon. They have hurt Hindu sentiments." They sought to march to the US embassy in Delhi but the Indian government was more concerned about not provoking the US than about backing its own citizens. It only allowed a small group to deliver a memo. 3. Footballer depicted as Shiva Two artist sisters (Amrit & Rabinder Kaur) from northern England on the occasion of the Commonwealth Games (July 02), they drew England's football hero David Beckham and his wife Victoria as Hindu god Shiva and his consort Parvati. Their son was painted as Ganesh. The three are shown seated on a throne - David holding a golden ball and wearing football shoes; Victoria in a strapless red gown, slit up to the thigh; the son wearing a Manchester United T-shirt. The British Gen Sec (Kishore Ruparelia) of Vishwa Hindu Parishad was upset: 'I cannot see the need for this. What is the real reason? We will be making a strong protest.' Said Ramesh Kallidai of the Hindu Council (UK): 'It is blasphemous to equate Lord Shiva and Parvati with the Beckhams - who are beef-eating, beer-drinking mortals after all.' 4. Ganesh with a glass of beer The Observer (7 April 02) in its special supplement Indian Summer carried artwork depicting Lord Ganesh holding a glass of beer in one hand and a hop cone in his left. Bimal Das, secretary of the National Council of Temples, called the advert 'crazy, outrageous and very offensive' and added that it was inappropriate to associate a religious figure with alcohol. He would write and seek an unreserved apology from the paper. The Observer was contrite: 'We would like to apologise to our readers who were offended by the image. The artwork was never intended to cause offence.' 5. Cakes with figures of deities As part of their Bollywood season (which opened on 2 May 02), London superstore, Selfridges offered cakes topped with images of Hindu deities. They were priced at �55 each. Complaints followed but Selfridges bosses at first ignored them. Aggrieved shoppers then took up the matter with the National Council of Hindu Temples and Bimal Das, Sec of the council, said: 'The idea of cutting and eating the image of a god is incredibly offensive.' Several Hindu leaders asked for a boycott of Selfridges. After selling most of the cakes, Selfridges issued a statement: 'In response to several complaints, Selfridges has removed the cakes depicting Hindu deities. We would like to apologise for any offence caused.' But guess who had supplied the cakes. None other than a Hindu firm. That takes the cake ! For more examples & detail, read www.goa-world.com/overseas-digest/Archives 2/hindumisrep.html in Part 2, we'll speculate why Hindus tend to be targeted. Eddie
