National scandal: Ganesha being sold as a "monster"!

[Dominik Wujastyk]

Status: RO

This is a beaut!
 
Tomorrow's edition of the British wireless programme "You and Yours"
will report on a scandal which is currently under way in Birmingham.
 
The children's toy company, Matchbox, recently started to market a new
line:  a matchbox full of miniature monsters.  A mother of Indian
descent in Birmingham bought this toy for her child, and was horrified
and deeply offended to find that amongst the monsters in the box was
a clear depiction of Ganesha.
 
When challenged, the company claimed that it had thought that the
big belly and elephant's head made the figure suitable for inclusion
in the toy, and had intended no religious slur;  however, a future
release of the same toy was planned to include a figure of Kali.
 
The press has just got hold of this, and a furore is expected to
break in the papers tomorrow.
 
I understand that India has immediately slammed a ban on the import
from Britain of any toys made by the Matchbox company.
 
This account is by word of mouth, and may have to be corrected
in details when the story is published.
 
Dominik