BELGIUM: Belgian garment company withdraws offensive undergarment
BharatTextile.com (subscription), India
BRUSSELS: A Belgian garment company has withdrawn an undergarment with the picture of Lakshmi, The Hindu goddess of wealth.
There were strong protests from the Indian community in Belgium for the use of religious sysmbols on undergarments and the company has apologized for doing so.
It said that “We are sorry for having offended you, but it wasn’t intentional”.
The firm is known as DOD who has 17 outlets in Brussels and has asked all 3 shops to take them out of shelves. The shops sell garments for men.
The company has requested the Indian community to accept the apologies rendered by the company.
Mr. Kapoor Chand Prem, President of Association of Trading in the Saint-Josse municipality of Brussels had lodged a complaint with DOD and asked them for immediate withdrawal of the garment from circulation.
We can not tolerate insult to our religion and culture, he said.
Mr. Sumit Chatterjee, a long-time Indian resident in Belgium said “I was deeply shocked and astounded to see the picture of our Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth printed on an undergarment being displayed at your shopsâ€.
It is still not known in which country the undergarment was manufactured and whether it is on sale in other countries also.
