The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) filed a memorandum requesting action against Amazon India on Wednesday for selling an ‘obscene painting of Lord Krishna with Radha’ on their website. The group turned in the memorandum to the Subramanya Nagar police station in Bengaluru.
The painting was being sold on the Exotic India website as part of their Janmashtami sale. The painting was being sold on Amazon by Bengaluru-based seller Inkologie. Later, Exotic India apologized on Twitter, saying, ‘It was brought to our attention that an inappropriate image was uploaded on our website. The same was immediately brought down. Please do not #Boycott ExoticIndia #Boycott Exoticlndia… Hare Krsna [sic]’.
In response to Exotic India’s tweet, HJS said, ‘Thank you for your prompt action. We appreciate that you removed the paintings and apologized unconditionally. We hope you will curate the content on your website to protect Hindu sensibilities. (sic)’. Amazon has not yet issued a statement in response to the incident. Following the removal of the items, HJS tweeted that ‘Amazon and Exotic India must tender an unconditional apology and pledge never to hurt Hindu sentiments again’.
This is not the first time Amazon has faced criticism for infringing on ‘religious sentiments’. A case was filed against its US website in 2019 after it was discovered that toilet seat covers and other items with images of Hindu gods were being sold on the site.
Users on Twitter had called for a boycott of the e-commerce website, with some even tagging India’s then-Foreign Minister, late Sushma Swaraj, and requesting action against the world’s largest online retailer. In 2017, New Delhi again chastised the Seattle, Washington-based company after its Canadian website was discovered selling doormats resembling the Indian flag. Swaraj then threatened to revoke Amazon employees’ visas unless the items were removed or removed from the website.
Post Your Comments