UK Hindus slam ITV for misuse of Ganesh idol

soulstation

As we debate whoz the fav God in beach's thread this has just come in thru ANI...this is not happening for the first time.

do IM'ers feel the same way?

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 03, LONDON: Britain's Hindu community is reportedly up in arms over a scene in the popular ITV television serial, Coronation Street, in which an idol of Lord Ganesha has been used as form of attack.

According to the BBC , Hindu viewers and community leaders reacted quite strongly when saw Maya threatening Sunita with a statue of Lord Ganesha as part of a long running plot line.

ITV 's apologies for having caused offence to Hindu sentiments have not been accepted, as community leaders felt the apology was conditional.

"The apology is not unconditional, it makes a justification for the behaviour. This is not acceptable to us," the BBC quoted Ramesh Kallidai, the secretary of The Hindu Forum of Britain, as saying.

The scene shows Maya ordering a cowering Sunita to be submissive or her husband would come home to find Sunita "beaten to death by Ganesh, the God of good fortune".

The ITV statement said it was clear Maya "had no regard for anyone or anything at the moment that the line was said and any right-minded individual would believe her actions to be abhorrent."

"We have had lots of calls from agitated Hindus - do you think they would have filmed a scene where a mentally ill person is shown throwing a Quran on the floor?" Kallidai said.

The forum has now reportedly sought an assurance that it would be consulted before including any use of Hindu icons that may cause hurt or anger in the community.

The Hindu Forum of Britain is the largest umbrella body for British Hindus, with more than 230 member organisations from across the UK.

Nick-H

Did anything like this ever happen in an Indian film or soap?

Yes, I think it is possible that a mentally ill person would be shown treating Quran without respect: mentally ill people are always respectful of religious icons?

I remember a fuss about underpants having a god printed on them. No; I would not wear, buy or sell such a thing. But, religion being such an intrinsic part of Indian life, it tends to be assumed that such things are meant as an insult to the religion.

Religion is such a small part of Western life for many people now that, whilst insensitivity is there, the idea of an insult to Hindus or Muslims in the inapropriate use of Quran script or Hindu icon probably never crossed its perpetrators's mind for a moment

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chappal

I don't agree with this. I have never seen a pair of shoes with the virgin Mary being sold on the boardwalk, but I have seen shoes with Hindu gods. It is pure insensitivity, and certainly deliberate at some level -- someone had to know what those images were and decide to put them on shoes or undergarments.

As far as this TV serial, I am not familiar with it. The names of the characters seem Indian, but you imply it is not an Indian serial, so who produces it and who it the audience?

beach

Yes It's possible. But that is no reason to be insensitive (from the movie makers side)

There was an issue about Coca cola logo. If the logo is viewed through a mirror , it reads something wrong in Islam. I don't know what it is as it must be something in Arabic or so.

Nick-H

I'm not defending the insensitivity, just saying that it is probably not meant to insult.

A year or two ago some designer got into trouble for using some Urdu text as design (maybe on clothes, I forget). It was from the Koran. They didn't even know that; they had no idea what it meant even. It would take more than a passing knowledge of Indian culture to appreciate that the combination of a God image with footware is particularly bad.

OK, perhaps even that kind of ignorance is offensive in itself. Hey, Yes! I'm convincing myself as I write: if these guys want to mess with images from another culture they should at least find out what they are doing.

I would suspect that the reason Christian iconography is not used in this way is because it is not very interesting or attractive: I doubt that respect has anything to do with it.

Nick-H

Oh, and Coronation Street is UK's longest running soap; the soap of soaps; the soap that gave rise to all other soaps!

I haven't watched it for years and not regularly for decades.

It is set in a fictional Manchester street and includes Indian characters.

Turtle

The audience are "glass tit" junkies , who sit in front of the TV eating dinner watching this low grade trash night after night.... In all fairness , i doubt the inclusion of this scene was deliberate in any way , most TV types , writers , producers etc, etc are pretty insular and live in small "TV" worlds , rubbing shoulders with there buddys and are not in touch with reality at the "joe public" level .... as for hindus being "upset" ... they need to take a chill pill , it's just cheap trash TV ...

vistet

Well , I could name a number of times christian icons has fared a lot worse on the screen : burning churches in Mississippi is Burning and the Icelandic director Gunlaugsons films , for example.

But the issue here seems to be under attack from the "outside" , i.e. from the dominant, normative culture. But who is outside ? You have ( I assume ) Indian /AngloIndian actors portraying Indians/AngloIndians in a way that is not "allowed" -presumably because the manuscript has been formulated "outside".
Is Gooodness Gracious Me allowable only because the cast and directors are Indians ? If so , we are still caught in a colonial mindset. I was hoping that it was funnny because the people know the community around them.
Which brings me to the subject of knowledge .
Well said .. and a follow up question ? How great ignorance is allowable in the society we are living in ? Not only as a individual responsiblity but also collectively ? How are these themes treated in school , for instance ?
I would agree , here where I live, that the cultural know-how that prevents you from doing the stupid shoe thing is to be hoped for but not too often seen.
But in Britain ? With three hundred years of interaction with Indians both in India but also at home ?

Nick-H

There is a great ignorance of India here in UK. But probably no more so than many other countries and coultures.

There is particularly an ignorance of Hindu religion. Islam gets a lot of coverage in the media, sometimes from the wrong angle, often to help convince people that the average Muslim on the street is no more a terrorist than the average Roamn Catholic, but Hinduism seems to get little coverage. Perhaps because it is content to keep itself to itself; I don't know.

chappal

Not true. Christian iconography is not uncommon on many worship and household items ranging from candles to furnishings to wall hangings. Christian symbols are also increasingly popular and decorative on tshirts and jewelry. But if I put a picture of the virgin Mary or Christ on my shoes I am confident I would get some comments from my own family and strangers alike.

Nick-H

Chappal, Oh, OK.

As an Indian you probably would get such comments, a European would not, as Europeans do not think about feet in the same way.

chappal

I am not an Indian. I am fair and freckled. Anyway Nick, I haven't been to Europe, but I think most people think feet are dirty. Some cultures have more taboos about feet than others, but most people would be offended to see their most cherished symbols dragged in the dirt.

Nick-H

Sorry for the identity confusion! I really must pay mmore attention.