'Nazi' Bedding Provokes Outrage in India

September 30, 2007

Author: Staff Writer

Source: YahooNews

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070930/ap_on_re_as/india_nazi_bedspread

Leaders of India's Jewish community expressed outrage Sunday over a new line of bedspreads called "The Nazi Collection" from a Mumbai-based home furnishing company that used swastikas in its promotional material.

The furnishing dealer said the name stands for "New Arrival Zone for India" and was not meant to be anti-Semitic.

But Jewish groups said they would file a lawsuit against the company.

"This is an enormous insult to Jews and all right-thinking people and must be retracted," said Jonathan Solomon, chairman of the Indian Jewish Federation.

There are about 5,500 Jews living in India, a predominantly Hindu nation of 1.1 billion people.

The bedspread line is not yet on sale, but brochures were handed out in a mall in a northern Mumbai suburb, the Times of India newspaper reported Sunday.

Furnishing dealer Kapil Kumar Todi said he chose the name because "that's what came to my mind," according to the paper.