India has lodged a diplomatic protest with Australia over an advertisement showing Lord Ganesha eating lamb. The Indian High Commission in Canberra said on Friday that it had issued a demarche to three Australian government departments, reported BBC.
The high commission also urged Meat & Livestock Australia, a meat industry lobby that came up with the advertisement, to withdraw it because many people considered it “offensive and hurting their religious sentiments”.
The advertisement shows figures from several leading religions sitting down to a meal of lamb. “A number of community associations have also registered their protest with government of Australia and Meat and Livestock Australia,” the high commission said in a statement.
Australia’s Advertising Standards Bureau said it had received over 30 complaints over the advertisement, “relating to a number of faiths”. Hindu groups in Australia have raised objections because Ganesha is never depicted eating meat. An online campaign to ban the advertisement has also got over 4,400 signatures.
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