Lord Shiva slot withdrawn following religious row

Complaints earlier this month by Rajan Zed of the Universal Society of Hinduism that an online slot machine themed on the god Shiva was insensitive to his religion have been followed by the product’s withdrawal from the market and an apology from the provider, Gauselmann Group in Germany.

Announcing the withdrawal of the online slot Lord Shiva, Gauselmann chairman Paul Gauselmann wrote:
“We understand the confusion and irritation concerning this…Therefore, we will immediately remove this game from our games portfolio and no longer offer it. At no point in time did we have the intention to insult the religious or ideological feelings of Hindus.

“We truly regret the confusion this has caused and you may rest assured that we will be even more diligent concerning the design and the designation of our games in the future.”

Accepting the apology, Zed thanked Gauselmann AG and Paul Gauselmann for understanding the concerns of the worldwide Hindu community, and suggested that multinational corporations do more to ensure their senior executives are better educated in religious and cultural sensitivity.

Following Zed’s original complaint, other religions, including Muslim, Christian and Jewish representatives, voiced their support in moves against religious icons being used in gambling applications.

Hinduism is one of the oldest and largest religions of the world with about one billion adherents. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva, along with Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu, forms the great triad of Hindu deities.

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