KATHMANDU: K-pop girl group BLACKPINK released their pre-single How You Like That on June 26 and smashed records, but the MV for the track and their label YG Entertainment are under fire from Indian BLINKs for disrespecting their culture and religion.

According to kpopstarz, in the music video Indian fans noticed that during one of Lisa's scene, she is sitting on a throne while a statue of the Hindu deity Ganesha is seen next to her on the ground.

The Indian fans were upset to see the statue of Ganesha on the floor, which they deemed is extremely disrespectful to a deity as Hindus believe that statues of deities should always be kept in high places and never touch the floor. Additionally Lisa is also seen wearing sneakers in the scene, which is also disrespectful.

They are also upset the statue was used as a prop in general as fans are tired of idols using Hinduism as an aesthetic. Oh My Girl was under fire for using pieces of Indian culture as accessories for the KCON:TACT 2020 SUMMER performance.

Though Indian fans also levelled cultural appropriation accusations, but other fans do not think of it as appropriating Indian culture, as Ganesha is worshipped in Thailand as well, under the name Phra Phikanesuan. In Thailand, Ganesha is also depicted as the emblem of the Thai Department of Fine Arts, and also of Thailand’s first prominent fine arts academy, Silapakorn University.

Indian fans began trending #Ganesha and #YGapologise, demanding action to rectify the scenes in the MV. Fans have also cleared up that they are not blaming Lisa, but want a response and apology from YG.

As of now, YG has not responded to the concerns.

BLACKPINK debuted in 2016 and was an instant success with their debut song BOOMBAYAH. The group is the highest-charting female K-Pop act on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200. They are also the first and only K-Pop girl group to enter and top the Billboard's Emerging Artists chart and was also the first female K-Pop group to have four number-one singles on the Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart. They are the most subscribed music group on YouTube. — HNS