Hindus have urged Sony Corporation to withdraw the new Indian release Hanuman: Boy Warrior video game for PlayStation2, saying it trivializes the highly revered deity of Hinduism.
Perennial whinger Rajan Zed, in a statement from the US,
said that in a video game set-up, the player would control the destiny of Lord Hanuman while in reality the believers put the destinies of themselves in the hands of their deities.
Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, argued
that reimagining Hindu scriptures and deities for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees. Controlling and manipulating Lord Hanuman with a joystick/ button/keyboard/mouse was denigration. Lord Hanuman was not meant to be reduced
to just a character in a video game to solidify company/products base in the growing economy of India.
Zed explained that Lord Hanuman was greatly revered and his worship was very popular among Hindus and there were numerous temples
dedicated to him. Son of wind-god, besides incredible strength and changing shape at will and flying, he was believed to be a perfect grammarian, great scholar and excelled in all the sciences. Rajan Zed pointed out that as Sony was said to be a
socially responsible and ethical corporation, it would effectively understand the feelings of Hindu community on this issue. Zed suggested that until India came up with such organization, Central Board of Film Certification should be given the
authority of rating and deciding whether the particular video game was suitable for public distribution in India.
Rajan Zed stressed that Hindus were for free speech as much as anybody else if not more. Hindu tradition encouraged peaceful
debates, won on their intellectual merit ...BUT... faith was something sacred and attempts at belittling it hurt the devotees. Video game makers should be more sensitive while handling faith related subjects, as these games left lasting
impact on the minds of highly impressionable children, teens and other young people. Update: Disrespectful & Disgraceful 21st April 2009. From webnewswire.com
More Hindus have joined the protest movement against Sony Corporation’s newly released Hanuman: Boy Warrior video game for PlayStation2.
The protest has now even extended to Australia, where Vamsi Krishna of Sanatan Sanstha found it
very disrespectful, disgraceful and an insult to all those devotees of Lord Hanuman and followers of Hindu dharma.
Vamsi Krishna requested Sony to remove this video game with immediate effect from the market before this causes further
unrest in the Hindu community worldwide and issue an apology to all those who have been hurt by this insensitiveness.
Meanwhile, Bhavna Shinde of Forum for Hindu Awakening argued that using a sacred figure from Hinduism, namely, the
Hindus' revered Deity, Sree Hanuman, as a character in a video game is highly objectionable to us Hindus worldwide.
Shinde urged Sony to withdraw this video game, Hanuman: Boy Warrior at the earliest, and publish an apology to the
Hindu community and Hanuman devotees worldwide. She requested all distributors and sellers of video games to exclude Hanuman: Boy Warrior.
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