So,
even if you can't read, I have to ask, "How many people know who Adolf
Hitler was? And what did he do?" I bet that almost all of you can easily
raise your hand and give me a brief description of the fallen dictator. Well,
Rajesh Shah of Ahmedabad city in India will tell you that he did not know who
Adolf Hitler was when he opened his clothing store with the name
"HITLER" over a week ago. Shah said on Wednesday that he would only
change the name if he was compensated for re-branding costs.
Shah's outlet,
Hitler, which sells Western men's wear, opened 10 days ago in the city of
Ahmedabad city in the western state of Gujarat with the name written in big
letters over the storefront with a Nazi swastika as the dot on the
"i". This guy still wants to insist that he has no idea as to who
Hitler was? I call B.S.! He claims that Hitler was a nickname given to the
grandfather of his store partner because "he was very strict." So, am
I to believe that there are no history books in India? Shah is insisting that
it was only when the store opened that he 'learnt Hitler was responsible for
killing over six million people.' He also claims that he didn't know how much
the name would disturb people. Now, either this go is a total moron or he's a
pure 'evil' genius! You can't ask for more international publicity than he is
getting right now because of the store's name.
Members
of the tiny Jewish community in Ahmedabad condemned the store's name, while a
senior Israeli diplomat said the embassy would raise the matter 'in the
strongest possible way.' One consulate stated, "People use such names
mostly out of ignorance." A prominent writer in India, who happens to be Jewish,
said that she was disturbed and distressed by the shop, but added that some
Indians used the word "Hitler" casually to describe autocratic
people. The writer also said that residents have tried to change Shah's mind
about the store's name by educating him about the Holocaust.
A
similar situation happened in Mumbai six years ago when a restaurant owner
called his cafe "Hitler's Cross" and put a swastika on the storefront
because he thought the name Hitler was catchy. He eventually agreed to change the
name after protests by the Israeli embassy, Germany and the U.S.
Anti-Defamation League. Apparently, Hitler carries an unusual degree of respect
in some parts of India with his book Mein Kampf, a popular title in
bookshops and on street stalls. No wonder why India is so screwed up! Gujarat
schoolbooks issued by the Hindu nationalist state government were criticized a
few years ago for praising Hitler as someone who gave "dignity and
prestige" to the German government.
Maybe
Shah isn't to blame for his ignorance because it sounds like parts of India
praise Hitler and don't shed him in a negative light like they do here or any
other part of the world. It just baffles me that this guy still had the nerve
to open a shop under this name whether he knew who Hitler was or not.
Personally, I think he knew all about Hitler because why would he put a
swastika on his sign if he didn't? Its one thing to be ignorant, but how can
one be that ignorant?
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