'Hitler' shop upsets Jewish community, others in Ahmedabad
TNN Aug 27, 2012, 12.34AM IST
AHMEDABAD: Almost a week ahead of the Israeli consulate visit to Gujarat to sign business and other agreements, a queer clothing outlet at Vastrapur called 'Hitler' has upset residents and the small Jewish community here. The proprietors of the shop, however, do not find the name objectionable as they claim it is a 'nickname given to one of the proprietors' grandfather.
Proprietor of the shop Rajesh Shah claims innocence. "We had put up a cloth banner for over a month saying 'Hitler opening shortly', no one objected to the name then," he said. "Hitler was a nickname given to my business partner Manish Chandani's grandfather because of his strict nature. Frankly, till the time we applied for the trademark permission, I had only heard that Hitler was a strict man. It was only recently that we read about Hitler on the internet. We have spent Rs 40,000 on the banner, couple of other thousand on visiting cards and branding activity. We have run out of money now. We are willing to change the name if we are compensated for the board."
"In the city of Mahatma Gandhi and non-violence, how can anyone celebrate a person like Hitler who is known to have murdered millions of unarmed ordinary civilians? We as a community had represented our concerns to the proprietors and we do not think they agree with us," said Nikitin Contractor, convener of the Friends of Israel organization from Vadodara.
He added, "Youngsters need to be told of the atrocities that Hitler committed and the millions who were killed in gas chambers more than 70 years ago."
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-27/ahmedabad/33424065_1_hitler-nikitin-contractor-shop
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