Singer and actress Selena Gomez has incurred the wrath of well-read book worms across India after photos of her stepping on books for a promotional shoot with sports brand Puma appeared online.

Indian Twitter was gravely offended by the photoshoot of the US popstar standing on books inside a library, while showcasing a new line of sports clothing.

Book lovers in India were left aghast by the poor taste on display, excoriating the 27-year-old star for disrespecting the written word. Many pointed out that books are revered in Hinduism, with several messages blasting the insensitivity of the photos going viral.

I can only see PUMA on books 👎In India if someone's feet touches a book inadvertently also he or she would touch the book to forehead in a gesture of apology. Here we have this lady standing on books with shoes on. Wonder if she ever visited a library before this photo shoot. https://t.co/gaqkGdmMKg — Arun Bothra (@arunbothra) November 29, 2019

“Wonder if she ever visited a library before this photo shoot,” wrote one bad tempered book lover.

She was also accused of insulting Islamic culture with the ill-conceived snaps, which were her third collaboration with Puma. The pictures were described by some as the “the worst thing anyone can do.”

Please don’t disrespect books, knowledge is sacred, we are suppose to respect it! 🙏🏼 — Citizen!!!🐈🦜🐾🍁🌾 (@AmaturRahman) November 29, 2019

The former Disney Channel diva didn’t receive the full brunt of the bibliophiles’ wrath, however, as many berated Puma for the culturally-insensitive advertising campaign.

@PUMA ...is this a global campaign?? If yes, this is clearly a case of cultural insensitivity!!! Nobody steps on books. 👎 — Niks29 (@Niks292) November 29, 2019

However, not everyone was quite so quick to judge Gomez for not understanding just how revered the written word is in India. “Blaming them for this may not be right as they have not been brought up with the same idea[s],” one defender wrote.

There r many pics of her. May b due to the cultural difference in India and US,she might’ve unaware about this “touching to forehead as gesture of apology”. In our belief bidya (education) regarded to goddess saraswati but they don’t. pic.twitter.com/0dSuUf9LFm — Dr. Sanjit Manohar Majhi🇮🇳 (@msanjitmanohar) November 29, 2019

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