Guest guest Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 Previous Headlines June 10th 2004 USA: Harrods to transcend Hindu underwear UK: BBC report on Harrods apology June 9th 2004 UK: Harrods apologies and removes display June 8th 2004 UK: HHR letter to Mohammed Al- Fayed, director of Harrods June 7th 2004 UK: Hindu Gods on Designer underwear; Hindu Human Rights group protests! 2004 'Om' Yoga Mats sold by companies...are we soon going to see sacred Hindu symbols for door mats? http://www.inspiregear.com/mats.asp Oct 29th 2003 Publisher withdraws offensive book on Lord Ganesha April 30th 2003 UNITED STATES, April 30, 2003: An American company has apologized for introducing sandals emblazoned with Ganesha images and has promised to withdraw them from stores immediately. Read more in Hindu Press International March 8, 2003 UK "Crisps" Ads Stereotype Indians December 5, 2002 Trinidad's Hindus Protest Alcoholic Ad Featuring Krishna April 16, 2002 "Colonial Outlook" Alleged at BBC World Service Investigation Toilet Seats Sport Hindu Gods Rediff on Net, US Edition Hindu Gods on Sandals Hindus Object to Paramount's 'Tomb Raider' Sequences India-West News Demonising Hinduism, Hollywood style Times News Network Historian Held For Derogatory Remarks Against Hindu Gods Indian Express Fiji Hindus Alarmed by McDonald's Fries India Abroad Daily .com The Beckhams depicted as Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati and Lord Ganesh. Petition against the depiction of David Beckham and family as Hindu God Shiva, Goddess Parvati and Lord Ganesha. The Artists official response Hindu God on Beer Bottle Stop insulting South Asia – Indian American sues firm over Lord Ganesha's picture on beer bottle http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/2783.asp HHR News Release, 11 May 2005Successful protest against Lord Shiva adverts It has come to our attention that US-based company Monarch Beverages is withdrawing its current advertisements for an energy drink featuring a distorted image of Lord Shiva from every market. This follows a HHR campaign to highlight how many Hindus have found this and other such abuses of our religious symbols to be highly questionable. We would like to thank all the Hindus who have helped us with this issue and put pressure on the companies concerned. We welcome the decision of Monarch Beverages to put an end to these adverts but would like other companies to follow suite and refrain from using Hindu symbols to sell their products. Thank you. Hindu Human Rights Serving Hindus Worldwide Now Lord Shiva selling drinks. Abuse of Hinduism continues... (10th May 2005) Letter to Monarch Beverages Company HHR Press Release, 9 May 2005Protest against Hindu Gods appearing on French Shoes Despite our campaign last year against the use of images of Hindu deities on underwear garments, it has come to our attention that once again another company here in the West is producing and marketing similar products which are both degrading and offensive to Hindus. Minelli, a France-based shoes retailer, has chosen to use sacred images of Lord Ram, venerated by millions of Hindus the world over, to sell its designer shoes. This is in spite of our well known campaign to highlight how such trivialisation of Hinduism leads directly and indirectly to the abuse of Hindus the world over. Such ignorance leads us to believe that this same organisation is probably both indifferent and apathetic to the immense suffering of Hindus: the ethnic cleansing they have suffered in Pakistan, Kashmir and Bangladesh, and the discrimination they suffer at the hands of Minelli’s very own fellow Europeans. Indeed sometimes Western firms seem totally devoid of all understanding when it comes to the oldest civilisation on the planet. For this reason we ask Minelli to respectfully withdraw the offending products and issue an immediate apology. HHR also requests all Hindus to contact Minelli to make their feelings known on this subject. According to their website, Minelli can be contacted as the details below: Siège social Minelli 155, rue du Dirigeable - Z.I. Les Paluds 13685 AUBAGNE Cedex - FRANCE Tél. : (33) 4 42 84 33 50 Fax : (33) 4 42 70 45 20 Mail: info Hindu Human Rights, Serving Hindus Worldwide ( Our Letter to Minelli ) Times of India News Offends Hindus on MahaShivaratri Festival Times of India News insults Hindus by defacing the holy image of Hindu God Shiva. Description as this " He's comfortable with 'if you've got it, flaunt it'; he can swim with the sharks, and still find place in his heart for the littlest minnow. He wears the suit of divinity lightly. Yes, Mahadev is a maha-dude. " is highly offensive to Hindus. Calling Lord Shiva as " He's hot, he is Indian Idol No 1" .. read more here >> Two 'Thongs' don't make a right ! Despite our campaign last year against the use of images of Hindu deities on underwear garments, it has come to our attention that once again another company here in the West is producing and marketing similar products which are both degrading and offensive to Hindus. 'CafePress.com' has chosen to use sacred Om symbol and that of Lord Shiva, venerated by millions of Hindus the world over, to sell its sensuous garments. This is in spite of our well known campaign to highlight how such trivialisation of Hinduism leads directly and indirectly to the abuse of Hindus the world over. Such ignorance leads us to believe that this same organisation is probably both indifferent and apathetic to the immense suffering of Hindus: the ethnic cleansing they have suffered in Pakistan, Kashmir and Bangladesh, and the discrimination they suffer at the hands of Cafe Press' very own fellow Americans. Indeed sometimes Western firms seem totally devoid of all understanding when it comes to the oldest civilisation on the planet. For this reason we ask Cafe Press to respectfully withdraw the offending products and issue an immediate apology. HHR also requests all Hindus to contact Cafe Press to make their feelings known on this subject. CafePress.com 1515 Aurora Drive San Leandro, CA 94577 US Phone: 1- 510-877-1540 Fax: 1-510-877-1540 CAMPAIGNStop the abuse against the Swastika and the distortion of the term ‘Aryan’ : Please sign the petition http://www.petitiononline.com/sa108hhr/petition.html Used by Nazi's Sacred Hindu Symbol for peace and prosperity HHR Press Release 'The Goddess Kali Lunchbox & Lord Rama on Tissues' The Goddess Kali Lunchbox It is with great regret that Hindu Human Rights (HHR) has to once again announce a Global Protest against the defamation of Hinduism by profit -hungry businesses. . A US based online company, lunchboxes.com, apparently the largest online retailer of lunch boxes, claims to have a “fascination with Hindu culture” and brings “beauty and mystery to your midday meal with the alluring but deadly Kali Lunchbox”. In fact, customers can also purchase a Krishna lunchbox, a Ganesh snack box or a Shiva snack box.Pls see the following link: http://www.lunchboxes.com/easphil.html In case manufactures and designers have failed to notice, Hindus are becoming increasingly aware of the insults which arises from such trivializing usage of their spiritual icons. Hindus have serious concerns that lunch boxes with Hindu prints will be used to store animal products and even beef – this is deeply insulting and it is unknown for even meat-eating Hindus to do this in the presence of an image of a God. HHR has received numerous complaints from concerned Hindus. We cannot help but point out that once again profit hungry companies are ruthlessly exploiting Hinduism’s natural openness to a multiplicity of modes of worship to further their greed. On their own, perhaps these various defamations of Hinduism we have recently highlighted do not amount to much. However, the picture changes when we look at the collective effect and seen that prejudicial views of Hindus and Hinduism are reinforced and played up to turn our entire culture into a joke. HHR spoke to the MR DJ Jayasekara managing director and designer of Lunchbox ..com who blatantly disregards the concerns of the Hindu community and stated ‘there is a market for these designs’ and he was going to continue to supply that market regardless of the offence he causes to Hindus world wide. Following are the contact details of the company Hindu Lunch boxes: Lunchboxes.com, P.O. Box 48453, Los Angeles, CA 90048 Web site: www.lunchboxes.com Telephone (USA): (323) 660-9279 Fax (USA): (323) 660-1787 e-mail: info Administrative Contact: Burning Lotus Designs, Ltd. DJ Jayasekara, 2750 Clearwater Street Los Angeles, CA 90039 US Phone: 323-660-1691 Fax.: 323-660-1787 Email: djay Lord Rama on Tissues (2004) Once again we find that one of the most cherished avatars (Lord Rama) is still being flaunted on paper tissues which as we write are being sold openly in shops (such as various branches of Parchment and other outlets in the UK ). Two years ago HHR had, after making a protest, succeeded in having these items removed form sale at prestigious locations such as the Victoria and Albert Museum., London. However it seems that these items continue to be sold openly in UK and Europe. After contacting the company Head office (Paper Products) in USA We were told that they are not responsible in the US for the manufacture and distribution policy of its German company which makes the Ram tissues . It would appear that the US company are referring responsibility of this particular production line to the German counterpart. Please e-mail or phone paper products Germany to register your protest. Tel number:0049 -2225/99350, E:mail: k.vincotte manager And the Retailers in UK Parchment , Head office : 0208-655-7651 Now Lord Shiva is a Bus Conductor in Belgium? Hot on the heels of our campaign against Ismail Merchant’s proposed film”Shakti” and the Roberto Cavalli bikini controversy featuring the misuse of Hindu Gods and Goddesses we now find .The depiction of Lord Shiva (in the form of Nataraj) guiding passengers to the front door of buses in Belgium and also as an animated advertisement on the website of the self same Belgian transport company called Shiva (STIB/MVIB) in order to increase their revenues. This shows that we cannot afford to slacken in our campaign to combat the increasing defamation of Hinduism and its symbols throughout the world including India. This apparently innocuous trend of using Hindu symbols as fashion/marketing accessories conceals a far more insidious approach to our Hindu culture and civilization the result of which is to undermine its integrity and impact by trivializing it and by inference trivializing the practitioners of Hinduism also. We must act as one and in a determined fashion to stamp out this practice and its effects. The Company Website http://www.stib.irisnet.be/FR/33200F.htm So please e-mail the top brass of the company-: info, vandenbroeckl, genbruggeam, carlea, Daemw, flauscha, info.chabert HHR Press Release It has recently been brought to our attention that garments , produced by Roberto Cavalli and stocked by Harrods, may have caused great offence to the Hindu community. We would like to assure you that this was never the intention of Roberto Cavalli spa . The fabric produced by Roberto Cavalli was designed to celebrate Hindu culture and not to denigrate it as implied by your recent correspondence. Roberto Cavalli and his design team travel to India regularly and adores it\'s culture, history and people . India is a great inspiration to Roberto Cavalli. The fact that the fabric has then been used to produce garments which could be deemed to be inappropriate was a completely innocent idea on our behalf and something we very much regret. We have asked that the relevant garments be removed from sale and I understand that this is now taking place, we are doing our best in order to do it as soon as possible. We offer you our sincerest apologies. Yours faithfully, For Mr.Roberto Cavalli Emanuela Barbieri Dear Sir The Chairman has asked me to thank you for your e mail dated 8 June 2004 and reply on his behalf. I was most concerned to learn that you should have been given occasion to complain in connection with the Robert Cavalli swimwear/underwear sold at Harrods. Since receiving your email we have decided to remove this range from sale. Please accept my apologies for any disappointment you were caused and I hope we may be of service to you in the future. With kind regards. Yours sincerely Harrods HHR wishes to thank all those Hindus who have responded positively to our campaign and acted promptly to make our feelings clear. Also, we would like to thank Harrods and their chairman, Mr Al-Fayed, for listening to our concerns and for realising the seriousness of this issue. While we are pleased that underwear depicting Hindu deities is no longer for sale and on display at Harrods, we remind everyone that this range is still available in many outlets all over the world and over the Internet and that we have had no response from Roberto Cavalli. We urge all Hindus to help us continue highlighting the degrading of Hindus and Hinduism in whichever form it exists. Thank you. robertocavalli - London showroommilano press Milan info Florence --> Letter to Roberto Cavalli Letter to Harrods Second letter of protest to Roberto Cavalli Roberto Cavalli apologised? Harrods apologies and removes display Press Release Pictures of the underwear with Gods Please Sign the petition against the film 'THE GODDESS'. To the Merchant-Ivory Productions: It has come to our attention that your next film project, “The Goddess” will be based upon the Hindu goddess Kali/Shakti Maa... According to the media reports about the script of the film ‘The Goddess”, you are turning Kali Maa into a musical joke, “dancing and singing atop of a tiger”. This will be very offensive to her millions of worshippers and a billion Hindus worldwide. Further, you are casting Tina Turner as the Goddess. We have no quarrel with Ms Turner as such, as she is talented but because of her reputation/image as a “sex icon” in most people’s minds, it is improper to cast her as Kali. We strongly object to the making of this film because of its feared offensive portrayal of a Hindu deity and we kindly request you to shelve this project.. click here to sign the petition. Nude picture of Lord Ganesha insults Hindus Houston: A nude picture of Lord Ganesha on the cover of a new book and the contents have evoked protests from Hindus across the United States. The nude portrayal of Lord Ganesha on the book "Ganesa, Lord of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings" by Emory University Professor Paul Courtright has earned the wrath of Hindu scholars here who say several passages quoted in the book "are seemingly insensitive to Hindu belief or faith." A petition is also being circulated and signed online to protest against the book and demands that publishers withdraw it from circulation. A release issued by the scholars claimed that so far about 5000 people have signed the petition expressing their displeasure. According to the release, the book "is not only ridiculing and insulting Hinduism but has utterly disgusting and distasteful material which is mind-boggling and throws a direct challenge to our traditional beliefs and practices." PTI courtesy: http://www.sify.com Lord Ganesha on Slippers The most loved God by Hindus is now printed on slippers. Yet another insult to 1 billion Hindu sentiments and the Great Hindu religion. American Eagle Outfitters, a clothing retail chain in North America had taken the turn to insult Hindus by marketing slippers with Lord Ganesha on its soles. There has been a Hindu outcry, but not appology has yet been given to any Hindu organisations. We request you to take some positive and peaceful action. You can call or write to: 1-888-232-4535 – AE Customer Service (24 hours a day) American Eagle Outfitters 150 Thorn Hill Drive Warrendale, PA 15086 website www.ae.com NASDAQ Symbol: AEOS Beloved Lord Rama on tissues (2002-2003) Hindus in UK are disgusted and angered to find their favourite God Rama found printed on Sniff Tissues. Another mockery made out of Hindus and Hindu Dharma! The Tissues are produced by a German company called Paper Products Design, and were sold at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. After complaints from Hindu Human Rights and concerned British Hindu citizens, the V&A museum has stopped the sale of these tissues. Although a public appology to Hindus has been denied as " not many Sniff Tissues were sold", the management at the museum has confirmed that "selling of the tissue with a God on it was indeed a big mistake ". These comments do not really satisfy one million Hindus in UK (and 1 billion worldwide). Please express your concerns and complaints to : Sniff Tissues V&A Museum Paper Products Design GmbH Am Hambuch 4 D-53340 Meckenheim Germany Tel: 3902225993511 V&A Enterprise 160 Brompton Road, SW7 UK web: www.vandashop.co.uk email: t.edgley Potrayal of Hindu Gurus in the film " The Guru" The Guru? This is what the film is portrays? A blatant disrespect to the ancient seers of India. The real Hindu Gurus of the oldest living civilisation labelled as sexually perverted con-artists. This is not only an insult to the founders of civilisation , but also to Hinduism, the peaceful, sacred and beautiful. "Handy Hindus" , Hindu Gods as finger puppets "Handy Hindus" Gods as finger puppets. This product was recently spotted at the Paper Chase department in Borders bookshop, Oxford St, London. This is another insult to Hinduism and its followers, the Hindus. Hindu gods as finger puppets is indeed making a mockery of Hindu beliefs and sentiments. Robert Wardern, the marketing manager for Paper Chase clearly rejected that it hurts any Hindu belief or sentiments. A public appology and removal of the sale of these items were also rejected as the " Handy Hindus were sold in thousands " Robert Wardern comments. Hindu Focus is concerned at dissapointed at the businesses who make a quick buck out of Hindu imagery and symbols, whilst clearly ignoring the sentiments of 1 million Hindus in UK and 1 Billion Hindus worldwide and the sacredness of the worlds oldest religion. The adddress to write to is : PAPER CHASE Robert Warden, 12 Alfred Place, London WC1E 7EB Accoutrements PO BOX 30811 Seattle WA 98103 www.accoutrements.com These 'toys' are also sold at the following sites. ship-of-fools.com/Gadgets/Toys/097.html Link to products with Hindu Gods. www.mcphee.com/enlightenment/hindu.html Sacred Hindu symbolism on footwear London footwear company 'Lacey' finally apologises for printing the sacred symbol 'OM' on slippers. All sales are apparently withdrawn. Every week, Hindus see the defamation of Hinduism. Ancient and sacred symbols are abused by businesses to gain a quick buck in the name of 'the beauty of Hindu culture'. Mockery is made is made out of worlds oldest living civilisation. We request you to voice your concerns with your local media, MPs and community. In the wave of defamation of Hindu symbolism and sentiments, lets also not forget the innocent Hindus who are being butchered and tortured in Bangladesh, India (Jammu & Kashmir, North East), Nepal and Pakistan. We support American Hindus Against Defamation AHAD The Hindu Human Rights group thanks you for your support! email: hinduhumanrights 2002-2003 Hindu Human Rights All rights reserved. VISIT http://www.hinduhumanrights.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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