Upset Hindus are urging Shein, Singapore Singapore-headquartered “global online fashion and lifestyle retailer”, for immediate withdrawal of doormats carrying images of Hindu deity Bhagwan Ganesh; calling it highly inappropriate.

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that it was shocking to visualise that Shein, for its mercantile greed, was apparently persuading the world to scrub/wipe their shoes to remove dirt/dust/mud before entering a door on the image of Bhagwan Ganesh, which Hindus worshipped.

Hindu deity Bhagwan Ganesh, whose image was depicted on doormats sold at Shein's website, was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not for putting one’s feet/shoes on for cleaning or sweeping on, as was the case here. 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; Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated.

Rajan Zed also urged Shein Group and its CEO Xu Yangtian and Executive Chairman Donald Tang to offer a formal apology, besides withdrawing Ganesh Doormat.

Hinduism is the oldest and third-largest religion of the world, with about 1.2 billion adherents and a rich philosophical tradition, and it should not be taken frivolously. Symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled, Zed noted.

Rajan Zed further said that such trivialisation of the Hindu deity was disturbing to Hindus world over. Hindus were for free artistic expression and speech as much as anybody else, if not more. But faith was something sacred, and attempts at trivialising it hurt the followers, Zed added.

The mission of Shein, which serves customers in 160+ countries, is “to make the beauty of fashion accessible to all”. Besides Singapore, it also has offices in Los Angeles, São Paulo, Dublin, Guangzhou, Paris, Washington, DC, and London.