5 May : Hindus are re-energizing their protest demanding the withdrawal of Sony PlayStation2 video game “Hanuman: Boy Warrior”, saying it trivializes the highly revered deity of Hinduism.
The protest, spearheaded by acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, was suspended for few days to give Sony Corporation some time to “review this issue” and come up with a possible solution. In view of no positive response from Sony, Hindus are planning to widen the protest.
Bhavna Shinde of Forum for Hindu Awakening, in a communiqué to Sony officials today, said, “So now we are left with no other alternative except to intensify our protests. Lord Hanuman is a highly revered Deity for us Hindus and we cannot accept any more denigration of Him.”
Shinde also wrote, “We are shocked at the stubbornness of Sony Corporation not to withdraw the PlayStation2 game ‘Hanuman: boy warrior’ despite our repeated requests. Sony Corporation is held in high esteem the world over with high ethical principles. We were expecting that Sony would not hurt the feelings of the one billion strong Hindu population for a minor product like this game.”
As a next step in protest, Hindus are planning to request the major wholesalers and retailers of video games in India not to carry Sony’s Hanuman video game.
Rajan Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, has argued that reimagining Hindu scriptures and deities for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees.
Furthering Zed’s drive, various other Hindu leaders and groups world over have also asked for withdrawal of “Hanuman: Boy Warrior” video game.
Lord Hanuman is greatly revered and his worship is very popular among Hindus and there are numerous temples dedicated to him.. Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents. Sony, with Howard Stringer as Chairman and headquartered in Tokyo, is one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world.