We got our first whiff of the controversy surrounding PS2 gameHanuman: Boy Warriorback in April, when the word on the street was that the game featured a denigrating depiction of a beloved Hindu monkey god and that the Universal Society of Hinduism was calling for Sony to pull the game from shelves. A few weeks later, it seemed as ifSony had responded to the claims and was working on an apology, but today Gamepolitics reported that leader Rajan Zed had proffered up a threat to Sony about their lack of response:
“Hindus upset over Sony’s “Hanuman: Boy Warrior” videogame and further frustrated by the callous handling by Sony officials, might give a boycott call of all Sony products world over… despite communication between Sony officials and Hindu leaders, the issue had not been resolved yet. Sony officials said that they would look into it and be back with the Hindu leaders, but they were yet to hear back from Sony…
If nothing was heard by Hindu leaders from Sony by May 21, then all the protesting Hindu groups and leaders would re-evaluate the protest and announce the future course, which might include calling for boycott of Sony products world over by Hindus and other likeminded people and supporters…”
This is confusing for several reasons: one, because of the previous claim about a response, but also, something about it all just seemed fishy. A little digging reveals that the folks atNegative Gamerwondered about this as well, and according to them there’s no real proof that a Universal Society of Hinduism even exists.Hindu Blogactually notes that there are no existing reports about the formation of the society. There’s also no official website. What to think?
I won’t jump to conclusions, but something here doesn’t seem quite right. What do you think? Is the Universal Society of Hinduism just a crazy guy in his bedroom harassing Sony via email?
[Header picture via Negative Gamer]
