Headlines
Fortune apologizes Hindus for cover depicting Bezos as Lord Vishnu
American business magazine Fortune has apologized for juxtaposing
image of Amazon.com President Jeff Bezos as the likeness of Lord Vishnu over
the cover of its January one international edition, which upset the Hindus.
Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, who spearheaded the protest campaign
on this issue saying that it trivialized their venerated deity, has thanked the
Fortune and its editor Alan Murray for showing maturity and responsibility and understanding
the feelings of the community.
Statement from Murray, titled “Apology for Fortune’s January
international edition cover†and posted at Fortune.com, says: “The cover of
Fortune’s January 2016 international edition featured an illustration of Amazon
CEO Jeff Bezos as a Hindu deity. Neither the artist nor the editors of Fortune
had any intention of parodying a particular deity or of offending members of
the Hindu faith. It is clear that we erred and for that, we apologize.â€
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, calling
it an unnecessary dragging of a Hindu deity to prove their point of view, had urged
Fortune to issue a formal apology.
In a statement in Nevada today, Rajan Zed suggested Fortune
and other media companies worldwide to send their senior executives and editors
for training in religious and cultural sensitivity so that they had an understanding
of the feelings of the customers and communities.
Zed pointed out that Hindus understood that the purpose of
Fortune in this case apparently was not to denigrate Hinduism, but casual
flirting like this sometimes resulted in pillaging serious spiritual doctrines and
revered symbols and hurting the devotees. Humor was a part and parcel of Hindu
society, but there were certain convictions in every tradition, which were
venerable and not meant to be taken lightly.
Rajan Zed said that Lord Vishnu was a highly revered major
deity in Hinduism meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to
be used indecorously or thrown around loosely in reimagined versions for
dramatic effects.
How a mortal could be depicted as Lord Vishnu, who is the
director of our destinies, Zed asked and added that inappropriate usage of
Hinduism concepts and symbols for pushing selfish agenda or mercantile greed
was not okay.
Rajan Zed stressed that Hinduism was the oldest and third
largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and a rich
philosophical thought and it should not be taken frivolously. No faith, larger or
smaller, should be ridiculed at.
Zed stated that Hindus welcomed media companies to immerse
in Hinduism but taking it seriously and respectfully and not just for improper
showing of Hindu symbols and concepts to advance their commercial or other
agenda. Hindus were for free speech as much as anybody else if not more. But
faith was something sacred and attempts at misusing it hurt the devotees. Media
companies should be more sensitive while handling faith related subjects and
sacred symbols.
This Fortune cover page is headlined as “Amazon INVADES
INDIA†(How JEFF BEZOS is conquering the next 'trillion-dollar market') and
created by Sydney (Australia) based illustrator Nigel Buchanan; whose clients
include The Wall Street Journal, MTV, The New York Times, etc.
Interestingly, a Fortune article was headlined
"Sacrilege", when The Economist ran a cover in 2010 with an image of
Steve Jobs with a halo.
Lord Vishnu is “preserver†in the Hindu triad with Lord
Brahma and Lord Shiva as the aspect of the Supreme. He has ten incarnations to
establish dharma (divine law). Moksh (liberation) is the ultimate goal of Hinduism.
There are about three million Hindus in USA.
Fortune Magazine, launched in 1930 and published from New
York by Time Inc., claims to be “a global leader in business journalism with a
worldwide circulation of more than 1 million and a readership of nearly 5
million†and having “the highest concentration of affluent and influential
business decision-makers vs. the competitionâ€. It comes out 18 times a year.
Time Inc. claims to be “one of the largest branded media companies in the world
reaching more than 120 million people each month across multiple platformsâ€.
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