Hindu Group Urges Wayfair To Withdraw Lord Ganesha Cutting Board, Apologize

An upset US-based Hindu group is urging Boston headquartered online home giant Wayfair for immediate withdrawal of cutting board carrying image of Hindu deity Ganesha, calling it highly inappropriate.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement from Nevada, said that Lord Ganesha was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshiped in temples or home shrines and not to “chop, dice and slice” meat, vegetables, cheese, etc. Inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, also urged Wayfair to offer a formal apology.

Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.1 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, Rajan Zed noted.

Zed further said that such trivialization of Hindu deity was disturbing to the Hindus world over. 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 hurt the followers, Zed added.

In Hinduism, Lord Ganesha is worshiped as god of wisdom and remover of obstacles and is invoked before the beginning of any major undertaking. There are about three million Hindus in USA. “Birchwood Golden Ganesha Elephant Cutting Board” at Wayfair sells for $34.99.