Online e-commerce giant Amazon has yet again swamped itself into controversy for selling doormats, slippers and toilet seat covers with the image of Hindu deities crafted in it. It all started after a Twitter user shared the images of such products with the photo of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, angry Indians have called for a boycott of Amazon and as a result, #BoycottAmazon is trending on the twitter with over 12 thousand tweets.
- Amazon is under fire for selling products with image of Hindu deities crafted in it
- #BoycottAmazon is trending on the micro-blogging site
- Thousands of Indian users backed the call for boycotting Amazon
Several users are tweeting along with the screenshots with hashtag #Boycottamazon show different items that disrespect India’s religious belief. Thousands of Twitter users backed the call for the boycott, with some tagging Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and urging her to take strict action against Amazon.
There has been no official clarification by Amazon over the issue as yet. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, it is worth the note that these products are not for sale in India.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the incident:
What the hell is this Amazon? (@AmazonHelp, @amazon)
How many times you will hurt the sentiments of Hindus? Why do you do this every year, every time? Till when will this continue? Will it ever stop? pic.twitter.com/XuwlHHu4qY
— Anshul Saxena (@AskAnshul) May 16, 2019
Hurting any religious sentiment is bad.
It’s seen Amazon hurts sentiments of all religion.
Islam and Christianity too besides Hinduism. pic.twitter.com/p7Wn1jNaAB
— Vaishali ✌? (@TimeTideRide) May 16, 2019
This is not for the first time that the International e-commerce giant has faced flack over the internet for disrespecting Hindu sentiments and selling offensive prints on doormats and other products. The episode is evocative to an incident in 2017 when New Delhi took the Seattle, Washington-based company to task after its Canadian website was spotted selling doormats resembling India’s flag. Ms. Swaraj at the time threatened to rescind visas of Amazon employees if the doormats were not removed from its site.
Even in 2018 also, a similar hashtag made rounds on Twitter against the online retailer for selling products with images of Mahatma Gandhi and tricolour on footwear. Such repeated incidents go to show the necessity for e-commerce platforms to step up their guidelines and regulations that hurt religious sentiments globally.
Reuters found several listings of toilet seat covers, yoga mats, sneakers, rugs and other items depicting Hindu gods, or sacred Hindu symbols, on Amazon’s US website. As of now some of the items were no longer available for purchase, it seems that Amazon may have been withdrawing some of the items, as it did in 2017.
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