'Hitler' clothing store stirs anger in India

[MikeL]

http://india.nydailynews.com/newsarticle/503e2d550fd79b7343000026/hitler-clothing-store-stirs-anger-in-india#ixzz24yo8CsgX

'Hitler' clothing store stirs anger in India
The owner of a new men's clothing store "Hitler" in Ahmedabad, India, is willing to change its name if he would be compensated for his branding expenses. Members of the city's tiny Jewish community condemned the store's name, and an Israeli diplomat said the embassy would raise the matter "in the strongest possible way."
Wednesday, August 29th 2012, 01:37 PM


The owner of an Indian clothing store said Wednesday that he would only change its name from "Hitler" if he was compensated for re-branding costs, amid a growing row over the new shop.
The outlet, which sells Western men's wear, opened 10 days ago in Ahmedabad city in the western state of Gujarat with "Hitler" written in big letters over the front and with a Nazi swastika as the dot on the "i".
"I will change it (the name) if people want to compensate me for the money we have spent -- the logo, the hoarding, the business cards, the brand," Rajesh Shah told AFP.
He put the total costs at about 150,000 rupees ($2,700).
Shah insisted that until the store opened he did not know who Adolf Hitler was and that Hitler was a nickname given to the grandfather of his store partner because "he was very strict".
"I didn't know how much the name would disturb people," he told AFP by telephone from Ahmedabad. "It was only when the store opened I learnt Hitler had killed six million people."
Members of the tiny Jewish community in Ahmedabad condemned the store's name, while a senior Israeli diplomat said the embassy would raise the matter "in the strongest possible way."
"People use such names mostly out of ignorance," Israel's Mumbai Consul General Orna Sagiv told AFP.


One of the two owners of the 'Hitler' clothing store, Rajesh Shah, arranges clothing in his shop in Ahmedabad on August 28.
Esther David, a prominent Indian writer in Ahmedabad who is Jewish, said she was "disturbed and distressed" by the shop, but added that some Indians used the word "Hitler" casually to describe autocratic people.
David said Jewish residents had sought to change Shah's mind about the store's name and told him about the Holocaust.
The row evoked memories of a controversy six years ago when a Mumbai restaurant owner called his cafe "Hitler's Cross" and put a swastika on the hoarding, claiming Hitler was a "catchy" name.
The restaurant owner eventually agreed to change the name after protests by the Israeli embassy, Germany and the US Anti-Defamation League.
Hitler attracts an unusual degree of respect in some parts of India, with his book "Mein Kampf" a popular title in bookshops and on street stalls.
Gujarat schoolbooks issued by the Hindu nationalist state government were criticised a few years ago for praising Hitler as someone who gave "dignity and prestige" to the German government.
This article was distributed through the NewsCred Smartwire. Original article © Agence France Presse 2012

Read more: http://india.nydailynews.com/newsarticle/503e2d550fd79b7343000026/hitler-clothing-store-stirs-anger-in-india#ixzz24yrBjxmB

 

[fraserdw]

Hitler is quite popular in India.  Not because of the Jewish question but because of his beliefs that the Aryans are the superior race.  Indians consider themselves descendants of the Aryan race.  A study of language roots has shown that the Aryan language is a common root in the Indo-European languages of Europe and the Indo-Aryan languages of The sub-continent.  How that would hold up racially is a matter of academic conjecture and neo-nazi BS.

 

[Allgunzblazing]

The word "Arya", has been known to the people of India for thousands of years. This word was anglicized to the word we are all familiar with, ie "Aryan". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan#Hinduism

To this day, the people living in Norther India call themselves "Arya". They believe that their ancestors had migrated to the subcontinent from Central Asia. One group reached the Indian subcontinent and the other went to Europe (Germany). This is the belief based on ancient folklore. How much of it is true is still actively debated in India. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race#Indo-Aryan_migration

There are some common links - DNA evidence, linguistics, etc. One noteable tidbit, is the Swastika. For Indians (Hindus), this is called "Swastik". It a symbol that has deep religious and cultural significance. The Nazis gave this symbol a bad name. However in India, this can be commonly seen.

As for Hitler - there are mixed emotions about him in India. An Indian freedom fighter (Subhas Chandra Bose) had collaborated with the Nazi party to form the Azad Hind Legion. This was done with the intention of gaining independence for India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subhas_Chandra_Bose

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indische_Legion

 

[Pieman]

Hitler is quite popular in India

Not all that popular it seems given the guy had no idea who Hitler was:

Shah insisted that until the store opened he did not know who Adolf Hitler was and that Hitler was a nickname given to the grandfather of his store partner because "he was very strict".

 

[gwp]

I wonder if Hitlers sells Hugo Boss ... who designed the German SS uniform and used forced labour to manufacture it.

See the history section this article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Boss

and here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Boss_(fashion_designer)

 

[Eaglelord17]

Not all that popular it seems given the guy had no idea who Hitler was:

He obviously knew who Hitler was when he made the brand. Why else would he have put swastikas over the I's instead of there dots. Its not a coincidence

"Hitler" written in big letters over the front and with a Nazi swastika as the dot on the "i".

 

[JorgSlice]

He obviously knew who Hitler was when he made the brand. Why else would he have put swastikas over the I's instead of there dots. Its not a coincidence

As previously mentioned, the Swastika takes its origin in India.

Wiki citation:

...widely used in Indian religions, specifically in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, primarily as a tantric symbol to evoke shakti or the sacred symbol of auspiciousness. The word "swastika" comes from the Sanskrit svastika - "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix. The swastika literally means "to be good".

India is probably one of the few countries in the world where you can pull off a Swastika (albeit the Nazi one was left facing, Hindu is right facing) and not know who Hitler or the Nazis were.

 

[Eaglelord17]

Obviously he knew who Hitler was. Would you start your brand for something someone calls you as an insult?

Hitler was a nickname given to the grandfather of his store partner because "he was very strict."

And just the fact it says Hitler with a Swastika over the 'I' and the Swastika is facing the Nazi direction not Hindu means the guy is full of B.S. if it was a coincidence then it wouldn't be a Nazi one.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hitler-clothing-store-stirs-anger-in-india.aspx?pageID=238&nID=28984&NewsCatID=356

Theres a photo of the brand on there.

 

[Edward Campbell]

As previously mentioned, the Swastika takes its origin in India.

Wiki citation:

India is probably one of the few countries in the world where you can pull off a Swastika (albeit the Nazi one was left facing, Hindu is right facing) and not know who Hitler or the Nazis were.

The swastika is used throughout South and East Asia, especially amongst Buddhists, as a symbol for favour.

For example: I took the picture, below, in the Spring of this year, in Penang, Malaysia, at a (Chinese) Buddhist temple.

 

[JorgSlice]

Obviously he knew who Hitler was. Would you start your brand for something someone calls you as an insult?

And just the fact it says Hitler with a Swastika over the 'I' and the Swastika is facing the Nazi direction not Hindu means the guy is full of B.S. if it was a coincidence then it wouldn't be a Nazi one.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hitler-clothing-store-stirs-anger-in-india.aspx?pageID=238&nID=28984&NewsCatID=356

Theres a photo of the brand on there.

He really could be that ignorant and only knew the name because they insulted his grandfather with. Trust me, the education system is golden over there, I know a few Indians (some whom have been here for many many years... 10+) and they know very little about Canada or anything outside of their native India.

The swastika is used throughout South and East Asia, especially amongst Buddhists, as a symbol for favour.

For example: I took the picture, below, in the Spring of this year, in Penang, Malaysia, at a (Chinese) Buddhist temple.

Yes, I am aware. It's origins are of Ancient India as noted, however.

 

[ModlrMike]

Interesting. I have a book of Kipling verse that was printed in the 1920s and has a swastika on the cover. Granted it is facing the correct direction, and has no "tilt" to it. Regardless I have to explain the context every time someone takes the book off the shelf.

 

[Allgunzblazing]

This dude who claims that he didn't know about Hitler is a blatant lie. Unless, he's illiterate. I'm from India and I had read about Hitler, the Nazi Party, etc in grade school history. Obviously, he's being smart and playing dumb. Even if he didn't know the name earlier, the brand name design team would've explained to him their concept - then he'd have known for sure.

As for the Swatik, it is a symbol very closely associated with Hinduism and all its offshoot religions.

About Hitler - there is no unified condemnation of him among Indians. There are those who dislike him, there are those who sit on the fence and then there are people who see him as another patriotic Aryan. Plus the fact that he had collaborated with Subhas Chandra Bose is well known. My guess is that he just wanted to get rid of the Brits in India and then install a puppet German government. But I have no facts to back up my guess.

To give a parallel example: when Indians hear about 9/11, Osama, Islamic extremism - this is something that they relate to because they have been facing this for a few hundred years now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Hindus

Unfortunately, the topic of Hitler does not strike such a chord among the masses in India.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Does Godwin's Law apply to this thread?  :

 

[57Chevy]

Does Godwin's Law apply to this thread?  :

It seems to apply to any thread.   
From Wikipedia
It states: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches. In other words, Godwin observed that, given enough time, in any online discussion—regardless of topic or scope—someone inevitably makes a comparison to Hitler and the Nazis.
                                        _____________________________________

Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” was on India’s best sellers list in 2010
http://rt.com/news/mein-kampf-sales-india/

He didn't know ?

 

[georgerobinson]

This kind of matters needs to be handle quite intelligently, especially because it's dealing with emotions. Though, he is not intentionally named his company this way, he has own reasons to argue. He had given the name after his grandfather who entitled with the nickname Hitler. On the other side, the community felt it deeply due to the great historic cause. We can't blame both ends for what happened so far, but we can come up with a good decision though. I agree with the words of srael's Mumbai Consul General Orna Sagiv that "People use such names mostly out of ignorance". It's right and here the owner is ready to make it clear with a change. Happening this kind of issues in a country will affect the travel atmosphere as it is common among the citizens who travel across different countries like  united states, etc. What the authority want to consider is that never let this kind of small issues to be a complicated one by the way they act very late.