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Connecticut brewery apologises for 'offensive' Gandhi beer | Connecticut brewery apologises for 'offensive' Gandhi beer |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A Connecticut brewery apologized to Indians offended that the company is using Mahatma Gandhi’s name and likeness on one of its beers. | A Connecticut brewery apologized to Indians offended that the company is using Mahatma Gandhi’s name and likeness on one of its beers. |
New England Brewing Co sells an India pale ale it calls Gandhi-Bot. The label features a cartoon image depicting a robot version of the late Indian leader, who favored prohibition. | New England Brewing Co sells an India pale ale it calls Gandhi-Bot. The label features a cartoon image depicting a robot version of the late Indian leader, who favored prohibition. |
“We apologize to any Indian people that find our Gandhi-Bot label offensive. Our intent is not to offend anyone but rather pay homage and celebrate a man who we respect greatly,” the Woodbridge-based company wrote over the weekend on its Facebook page. | “We apologize to any Indian people that find our Gandhi-Bot label offensive. Our intent is not to offend anyone but rather pay homage and celebrate a man who we respect greatly,” the Woodbridge-based company wrote over the weekend on its Facebook page. |
The brewery’s website promotes the Gandhi-Bot beer, which has been distributed about five years, as “fully vegetarian” and “an ideal aid for self-purification and the seeking of truth and love”. | |
Critics in the US and India have complained about the commercial use of Gandhi, revered for leading India to independence through nonviolence. | Critics in the US and India have complained about the commercial use of Gandhi, revered for leading India to independence through nonviolence. |
Proloy K Das, a Hartford lawyer, tweeted that Connecticut “should be ashamed to be home” to New England Brewing. | Proloy K Das, a Hartford lawyer, tweeted that Connecticut “should be ashamed to be home” to New England Brewing. |
He told the Associated Press that the issue is not just the use of Gandhi’s name, but also his depiction as something comparable to a robot. “There’s really no spin you can put on this,” he said. | |
New England Brewing referred questions to its posting on Facebook, where it also urged users not to use its page to argue with those upset by the label. | New England Brewing referred questions to its posting on Facebook, where it also urged users not to use its page to argue with those upset by the label. |
“We want to do our best to be culturally sensitive and respectful,” the brewery said. | “We want to do our best to be culturally sensitive and respectful,” the brewery said. |
New England Brewing posted its apology on Saturday, at about the time criticism began mounting. Newspapers in India reported that a lawyer has brought a case against the beer company in Hyderabad, saying the use of Gandhi’s image violates Indian law as an insult to the nation’s honor. | New England Brewing posted its apology on Saturday, at about the time criticism began mounting. Newspapers in India reported that a lawyer has brought a case against the beer company in Hyderabad, saying the use of Gandhi’s image violates Indian law as an insult to the nation’s honor. |
State Representative Prasad Srinivasan, a Glastonbury Republican who is from India, said he was “beyond appalled” at the use of Gandhi’s image. | State Representative Prasad Srinivasan, a Glastonbury Republican who is from India, said he was “beyond appalled” at the use of Gandhi’s image. |
“How this celebrates the apostle of peace by putting his image on a beer can boggle one’s mind,” he said. | “How this celebrates the apostle of peace by putting his image on a beer can boggle one’s mind,” he said. |
Tushar Gandhi, the Indian leader’s great-grandson, said Gandhi “abhorred alcohol drinking” and spoke against it, the Telegraph newspaper reported. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Gandhi’s grandson, was quoted as calling the use of his image “crass and silly”. |
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