Indian “Nazi” bedspread withdrawn after protests

INDIA: An Indian home furnishing maker has agreed to withdraw its new line of bedspread collections named “NAZI” after Indian Jews protested the promotional name, which they said rang of Adolf Hitler’s anti-semitic regime.

The furnishing maker sent a letter to the Jewish community apologising, Jonathan Solomon, head of the Indian Jewish Federation, told Reuters late on Monday.

“We ... hope that this crude attempt at cheap publicity is not repeated,” Solomon said, welcoming the letter.

The family-owned business was not immediately available for comment.

India’s small Jewish community had protested on Sunday against the “NAZI” collection bedspreads being sold at stores in India’s financial capital Mumbai.

Dealer, Kapil Kumar Todi said on Sunday that the word “NAZI” had nothing to do with Hitler and stands for “New Arrival Zone of India”. He denied it had been done for publicity.

Holocaust awareness in India is limited and Hitler is regarded by many as just another historical figure.

Indian Jews number only about 5,000 after most migrated to Israel and the West over the years.

Nazi ideas are largely rejected in India, but a rightist Hindu fringe deifies Hitler’s rabid nationalism. In 2005, the western state of Gujarat, ruled by Hindu nationalists, introduced a high-school book that eulogised Hitler as a strong administrator..

New Delhi, Tuesday, Reuters.