Sega Pitched to stop depicting deities as Demons 

Babu Tangewala

CHICAGO: Greatly Upset Indians here strongly pitcher with Sega Sammy Group to discontinue portraying of various deities as demons in the video games titled “Shin Megami Tensei”, developed by its subsidiary Atlus. 

Deities such as Ganesha, Hanuman, Kali, Lakshmi, Sarasvati, Shiva, Vishnu, etc., are among the various demons used in “Shin Megami Tensei” video-games. 

Casting Gods and Goddesses, highly revered by the devotees, as demons is deemed a sacrilege it is pointed out

A well-established company like Sega Sammy Group, which claimed to be “living up to society’s ethical and public expectations”, should not be in the business of trivializing the deeply held beliefs of “others” and ridiculing entire communities; commented Rajan Zed President of Universal Society of Hinduism. 

He urged Sega Sammy Group CEO Haruki Satomi and Board Chairman Hajime Satomi to offer an apology for creating confusion in the world community by portraying inappropriate and disrespectful images of Hindu deities. 

 Reimagining scriptural symbols, concepts, icons and deities for commercial or other agendas should not be okay as it hurt the devotees. Deities were meant to be worshipped in temples and home shrines and not to be degraded as demons in a video game for usage in combat in the virtual battleground. 

 It should be welcome development when an entertainment company gets immersed in Hinduism but not for refashioning Hinduism scriptures, symbols, concepts, icons and deities for mercantile greed.

Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.2 billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken frivolously. No faith, larger or smaller, should be mishandled, Zed pointed out. 

Sega Sammy Group, established 2004 and headquartered in Tokyo, is a “group of comprehensive entertainment companies” whose mission is “Constantly Creating, Forever Captivating—Making Life More Colorful”. Atlus claims to deliver “unforgettable, story-driven gameplay experiences”. “Shin Megami Tensei” is a notable franchise of Atlus.