Upset Hindus are urging one of the world’s largest online home retailers Wayfair and it’s co-chairman Niraj Shah, for immediate withdrawal of doormat carrying the image of Hindu deity Lord Ganesh; calling it highly inappropriate.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that it was shocking to visualize that Wayfair, 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 Lord Ganesh, which Hindus worshipped.

Hindu deity Lord Ganesh, whose image was depicted on doormat sold at Wayfair website, was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not for trapping allergens, debris, dirt, dust, grit, moisture, mud, odor, sand; drying shoe soles; providing comfort underfoot; scraping debris off footwear soles; softening noise; acting as pet paw cleaner; 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 Wayfair co-chairmen and co-founders Niraj Shah and Steve Conine to offer a formal apology; besides withdrawing Ganesh Doormat.

Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.3 billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought 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 trivialization of Hindu deity was disturbing to the Hindus. Hindus were for free artistic expression and speech as much as anybody else if not more. But faith was something sacred and attempts at trivializing it hurt the followers, Zed added.