Baba Ramdev has jumped on board to criticize Amazon for selling toilet covers, doormats, shoes along with some other items which have Hindu religious pictures on them. #BoycottAmazon has been trending on Twitter since the images from the e-commerce giant’s website surfaced on Thursday. Amazon witnessed a backlash with Twitterati calling out the company for hurting religious sentiments. In a tweet, Patanjali’s Baba Ramdev questioned if the company would be audacious enough to use holy images from other major religions. He also asked why it is always the deities of India who are insulted. Baba Ramdev used the hashtag #AmazonInsultsHindu and Amazon Should Apologize. There is no response from Jeff Bezos’s company yet which uses third-party vendors to sell products.
क्या #Amazon इस्लाम और ईसाइयत के पवित्र चित्रों को इस रूप में प्रस्तुत करके उनका अपमान करने का दुस्साहस कर सकता है ?
हमेशा भारत के ही पूर्वज देवी देवताओं का अपमान क्यों?#अमेजनमाफीमांगे #AmazonInsultsHindu pic.twitter.com/2cXAJxa0yw— Swami Ramdev (@yogrishiramdev) May 17, 2019
Meanwhile, Twiteratti has been scanning the website for more such products and posting the links to these items as well. However, the unverified images and several alleged links to the items are broken. It is not clear whether Amazon has itself delisted those products from the website or the links did not exist in the first place. Amazon had landed itself in a similar controversy in 2016 as well when it was found selling doormats with pictures of deities on them. However, this was not just confined to Hindu gods. The items sold by third-party vendors were then taken down by Amazon.
Here’s what people had to say on the matter-
#BoycottAmazon What are you guys trying to prove? Who are you trying to appease by doing this? What happens to everyone’s cultural appropriation when it comes to Hinduism? pic.twitter.com/xLz53zSmrU
— Deepak Nadgir (@deepaknadgir) May 17, 2019
I dont know when these people will show respect for others. My India is a place of holy people but overseas there are some whose mentality is just making money and criticising others. “प्रभु उन्हें थोड़ी बुद्धि दें”. #BoycottAmazon #AmazonInsultsHindu pic.twitter.com/LiJRnRoxIZ
— Keshav Singhal (@_keshavsinghal) May 17, 2019
You have no right to hurt any religious sentiments and beliefs @amazon @AmazonHelp @AmazonUK @amazonIN never ever buying from your platform and uninstalling you. You better need to learn to respect other religions and countries. pic.twitter.com/ZNqyetEzmt
— Rohit verma (@rohitverma221) May 17, 2019
#BoycottAmazon let’s stop this . amazon is making fun of our culture and hindu gods . https://t.co/AIfQcAIMJp
— saathvik bhat (@SaathvikB) May 17, 2019
This is not the first time a foreign company has got mired in religious controversy. Recently Hindustan Unilever also drew flak as some people found its Holi Campaign hurtful of religious sentiments. Baba Ramdev too had played desi card in the HUL controversy stating that the only agenda of the videshi companies is to make the country poor economically and ideologically.
