Thousands of Indian users backed the call for boycotting of the online retailer, with many tagging Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj asked the government to take strict action against Amazon. There has been no official clarification by Amazon over the issue as yet. However, it is worth the note that these products are not for sale in India.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the incident:
This is not for the first time that the International e-commerce giant has faced flack over the internet for disrespecting Hindu sentiments and selling offensive prints on doormats and other products. Back in 2017, doormats with Indian flags printed on them were spotted on Amazon's Canada website.
Later, the website was forced to stop the sale of those mats after facing a series of protests from India and Indian-origin Canadians. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had also publicly threatened to rescind visas of Amazon employees if products were not removed from its website. This was not just a problem limited to the Hindu religion but Christianity and Islamic religions as well. The website also had images of Jesus and the Holy Quran featured on floor mats.
Even in 2018, a similar hashtag made rounds on Twitter against the online retailer for selling products with images of Mahatma Gandhi and tricolour on footwear. Such repeated incidents go to show the necessity for e-commerce platforms to step up their guidelines and regulations that hurt religious sentiments globally.