- Friday, February 28, 2025
Rajan Zed, president of Universal Society of Hinduism who spearheaded the protest, said online retailers should not be in the business of religious appropriation, sacrilege and ridiculing entire communities.
By: Shubham Ghosh
AN online gift shop in Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales, has withdrawn socks carrying images of Hindu God Ganesha from its website following a protest from the Hindu community which called them “highly inappropriate”.
The ‘Hop Hare Bamboo Socks — Ganesha’, which were earlier selling at £7.95, were not found on ‘Wisdom Wares’ website when searched on Monday (26). “No results found for Ganesha,” it said.
Rajan Zed, president of Universal Society of Hinduism who spearheaded the protest, in a statement in the US’s Nevada thanked ‘Wisdom Wares’ for understanding the concerns of the Hindu community. He said they were still waiting for a formal apology from the shop authorities.
Zed, a Hindu statesman, said Lord Ganesha is highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to adorn one’s legs/feet/ankles/calves or absorb sweat. He said online retailers should not be in the business of religious appropriation, sacrilege and ridiculing entire communities.
Hinduism is 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, Zed said, adding symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled.
‘Wisdom Wares’, whose tagline is “Gifts from around the world, Handmade with love.”, mentioned “Our socks refer to mysticism, beliefs, traditions and experiences.”
