Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, thanked NBC for showing responsibility and maturity for taking quick action and for understanding that it hurt the feelings of Hindu community. It was a step in the right direction, he added.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement yesterday, said that about one billion Hindus worldwide worshipped their deities almost on a daily basis and labelling them as “weird” was highly hurting. He had asked for immediate removal of inappropriate words from the NBC Chicago website.

Zed had argued that Hindu deities were meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be irrelevantly branded as “weird” while commenting on an ice hockey game. These deities were highly revered in Hinduism and inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees, Zed had stressed.

Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken lightly. Symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled, Zed had stated.

Last year also, Hindus were perturbed to see the portrayal of Lord Ganesha as a sex act on NBC’s Saturday Night Live demonstrated by actors Jim Carrey and Kenan Thomson, mocking elephant-headed Lord Ganesha and his trunk in the process, Zed added.