Madhu Patel
CHICAGO: The protest; against Lord Ganesh Belly rings the Tweed Heads (NSW, Australia) based jewelry retailer The Belly Ring Shop (Tummy Toys) apologized and removed ten belly button rings carrying images of Lord Ganesh; that was dubbed highly inappropriate”.
Helene Holtsbaum, owner of The Belly Ring Shop (Tummy Toys), in an email to Rajan Zed, who spearheaded the protest, wrote: “I would like to confirm that all ten belly rings have now been removed from our website and the sale of these items has permanently ceased…I profoundly apologize for my actions to all Hindus around the world. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to correct this matter and for raising my awareness in this area for understanding the concerns of Hindu community, which thought image of Lord Ganesh on such a product, was insensitive.
Rajan Zed had pointed out that Lord Ganesh was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to adorn one’s belly button or used as a “navel toy” or, become a tool for “sexy navel fashion”. Inappropriate usage of sacred Hindu deities or concepts or symbols or icons for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees.
In Hinduism, Lord Ganesh is worshipped as god of wisdom and remover of obstacles and is invoked before the beginning of any major undertaking. According to 2016 Census, there were 440,300 Hindus in Australia. Hinduism, second fastest-growing religion in Australia, is its fourth largest.
Ten objectionable belly-button/navel/belly-piercing rings and belly-button/belly/navel bars on this retailer’s website were seemingly named on Ganesh and carried the image of Lord Ganesh,price ranged between $5 to $14.90.
The Belly Ring Shop (Tummy Toys), which calls itself “Australia’s trusted” “The MEGA Belly Bar Shop”, was founded in 2008. It describes its jewelry as “essential sexy navel fashion”, states to have 6,000+ belly bars and its Mission includes “no belly button is left without sensational bling”.
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