HARSH RAO
CHICAGO: Upset Indians here have pitched with Keene, New Hampshire-based online apparel company The Mountain for immediate withdrawal of a pet-bed carrying the image of Hindu deity Lord Ganesh, calling it highly inappropriate.
The protest is led by Rajan Zed, president of Universal Society of Hinduism, who said that Lord Ganesh was highly revered in Hinduism and placing its image on a pet-bed for commercial or other agenda hurts the faithful.
Zed further said that such trivialization of Hindu deity was disturbing to Hindus world over. Hindus are 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 said.
Product description of Ganesh Pet Bed, priced at $60 – $130, stated: “…we think your pets should sleep in style… The cover is water resistant, removable (there’s a zipper) and machine washable, so a little dog slobber or cat drool isn’t a problem.”
Products of The Mountain, whose history goes back to 1972, include apparel for men, women, and children. It claims to have “over 1,000 designs available”.
