Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Despite similar incidents evoking a strong protest by Hindus in past, a leading US-based video game manufacturer has depicted Goddess Kali- a highly revered deity in India- as a combat porn-star, hurting the religious sentiments of the community.
Reports claimed on Friday that a US firm Hi-Rez Studios has launched an online game, SMITE, which portrays the deity as a slutty femme fatale. SMITE presents an online battleground of mythical gods and features a number of other Hindu gods and goddesses such as Vamana and Agni.
The portrayal of the revered Hindu deity as a combat porn-star has sparked protests across the world and leading Hindu organizations are now demanding the firm to immediately remove the Hindu mythological characters, especially Kali, from the online game.
Hindus are getting support from Catholics, Jews and Buddhists worldwide, who have also condemned the depiction of Hindu God and Goddesses in a “pornographic style".
Revered Roman Catholic leader in Nevada, USA, Father Charles T Durante, prominent Jewish leader in western USA Rabbi ElizaBeth W Beyer and distinguished Buddhist leader from Nevada, USA, Reverend Jikai' Phil Bryan have issued statements condemning the firm and its latest product.
Meanwhile, the Hindu Jagruti Manch, a leading Hindu outfit also said, “This game has portrayed Hindu Goddess Kali Mata in very bad manner, with appearance as a combat porn-star. Kali Mata is highly revered Hindu Goddess and more than one billion Hindus worship her. Also it is grave of insult of Hindu Deities as Deities are not objects to be used for online games."
When the characters of this online video game were checked, it was found that the Goddess Kali is barely clad like Hollywood femme fatales, possibly leading to an outrage among a billion Hindu followers of deity.
Undeterred by the controversy, Hi-Rez COO Todd Harris was quoted as saying, “In fact, given Hinduism's concept of a single truth with multiple physical manifestations, one could validly interpret ALL the gods within Smite to be Hindu and all gods outside of Smite as well. Ponder that for a minute. Anyway, going forward Smite will include even more deities, not fewer."
Hurt with the incident, Hindu organizations have urged Hi-Rez to reconsider their portrayal of these gods, saying that video game makers should be more sensitive while handling faith-related subjects and no faith, larger or smaller, should be trampled.
With Agency Inputs
First Published: Friday, July 20, 2012, 12:57