Protest : Denigration of Shrikrushna in South Park’s animated TV Show

Vaishakh Shuklapaksha 6, Kaliyug Varsha 5117

Appeal against the denigration of Hindu Deity Shrikrushna in South Park’s animated TV Show (now sold on DVDs) through their online store http://shop.southparkstudios.com/.

We at Forum for Hindu Awakening (FHA) have received several complaints from devout Hindus regarding the sale of DVDs of an animated sitcom South Park through the online store, http://shop.southparkstudios.com/. The complaints pertain to the sale of the season five episode “Super Best Friends” and the season fourteen episodes “200” and “201”. These episodes were removed from the site; additionally these episodes no longer air in reruns. However, they are still exclusively available on DVDs. 

 

Upon reviewing the complaints, the FHA protest team wrote an appeal letter addressed to Comedy Central’s Vice President of Communications, Ms. Jenni Runyan and requested her to stop the online sale of DVDs. The letter explained the condemnation that is happening and denigrating references to Hindu Deity, Shrikrushna. In addition, the letter also explained that the image of Shrikrushna in the form of a cartoon trivializes Shrikrushna and Hinduism. The letter also stressed that the depiction of Shrikrushna is not in accordance with the shaastra (spiritual science as per the Hindu scriptures) and thus denigrates Him.

Please see below some of the denigrating images of Shrikrushna portrayed in South Park’s season five episode “Super Best Friends” and the season fourteen episodes “200” and “201”.(The appeal letter explaining the denigration is published towards the end of this page.) –

The Forum for Hindu Awakening (FHA) protest team has not received a response from Ms. Jenni Runyan. Consequently, FHA now requests all readers to appeal against this denigration of the revered Hindu Deity, Shrikrushna, peacefully and lawfully by either writing an email to or calling the number below requesting to stop the sale of DVDs:

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

 Or,

 Tel: 00-1-310-752-8000

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 See below the appeal letters written by Forum for Hindu Awakening

From: Hindu Awakening
Date: Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 3:12 AM
Subject: Denigration of Hindu Deity Shrikrushna in South Parks animated TV show (now sold as DVD’s)
To: [email protected]; [email protected]

|| Shree ||

Namaskar,

We at Forum for Hindu Awakening have received several complaints from devout Hindus regarding sale of animated sitcom South Park’s DVDs through online store, http://shop.southparkstudios.com/. The complaints pertain to sale of the season five episode “Super Best Friends” and the season fourteen episodes “200” and “201”. These above mentioned episodes were removed from the site; additionally these episodes no longer air in reruns although they are still exclusively available on DVDs.

Forum for Hindu Awakening is a nonprofit organization that strives to awaken society to the unique spiritual science behind Hindu Dharma concepts and practices, to motivate people to live and preserve them, and to facilitate the spiritual progress of humanity. One of the ways we do this is by addressing misrepresentations of Hinduism. For further details please refer to our website, http://forumforhinduawakening.org/.

We are sending this letter to inform you about the sale of contentious episodes through DVDs and denigrating references of Hindu Deity, Shrikrushna. The description and image of Shrikrushna in the form of cartoon is causing a trivialization of Shrikrushna and Hinduism. In addition, the manifestation of Shrikrushna is not according with the shaastra (spiritual science as per the Hindu scriptures) thus denigrates Him.

The following are episodes where Shrikrushna has appeared in undignified way that creates an inaccurate portrayal of Shreekrushna in society:

1)     The season five third episode “Super Best Friends” shows revered Hindu Deity, Shrikrushna in trivializing way. It described Shrikrushna is a Hindu deity who is a member of the ‘Super Best Friends’ and His only powers include shapeshifting and flight. This is incorrect and misinformation about Deity Shrikrushna.

2)     In addition, in the season fourteen sixth episode “201”, “Super Best Friends” pacify Mecha-Barbara Streisand by having Shrikrushna morph the form of Neil Diamond and providing her the opportunity to perform a duet with him. This is also not in accordance with shaastra and is actually a denigration of Shrikrushna. It also hurts the religious sentiments of the Hindus showing Shrikrushna in a demeaning and disrespectful way.

In the minds of the viewer, a fictional, trivial image of the Deities will form over a period of time and hence, it will obstruct the development of their faith in the Deities, which is most important in worshiping Deities and experiencing Their divine presence and blessings. Just as the image of water comes to mind when we think about water, that is, just as the form and energy of an object go together, so also, it is with the Deities.

We understand that you have removed certain episodes portraying God from other religion; similarly, the portrayal of Hindu God also hurts the religious sentiments of Hindus all around the world. Hence, we ask you to completely remove all the material from the market including sale of DVDs from your online shopping portal to prevent further denigration of Shrikrushna and show sensitivity towards Hindus. We stress that our aim in bringing up these points is to educate and ensure that Hinduism gets accurately represented to society. Hinduism has been misrepresented at many levels. Though it is an ancient tradition, Hinduism has a lot to offer the modern world and we want children and adults alike to be able to understand and study it without it being misrepresented. You can take one step towards ensuring that Hinduism does not get trivialized, by removing these episodes from your website.

Awaiting your prompt action and reply.

Sincerely,

Forum for Hindu Awakening