UK fashion chain withdraws “Swastika” bag
An alert (and loyal) reader pointed this story to me: Zara withdraws swastika handbags.
From the BBC website:
The fashion chain Zara has withdrawn a handbag from its stores after a customer pointed out that the design featured swastikas…
A customer who returned the bag to the shop when she noticed the symbol said staff had been “shocked” to see it.
As well as being the Nazi symbol, the swastika is also a religious symbol for Hindus and Buddhists.
…Rachel Hatton, said, “I was quite shocked – I took it back to the shop.” “Then obviously the shop assistants were quite shocked as well to find out this symbol was on there – it was not something that they’d noticed either straight away,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“Had the symbol been seen we would not have sourced that particular handbag,” said Zara spokesperson Susan Suett.
Image Courtesy: DailyMail
It appears that:
- Zara may not have selected the handbag had the “swastika” been visible before the order was placed
- The staff may not have sold it had they noticed the “offending symbol” which so “shocked” them
- There is no difference between the Nazi “swastika” and the Hindu and Buddhist one
- Selling anything with a “swastika” on it may be asking for trouble (- does not matter if it is the Hindu symbol which is revered by millions of people – oh, but they are all “Third-world”, aren’t they?)
Of course, no one bothers to dig a bit and find out if the symbols are actually identical and how an ancient religious symbol became associated with Nazism in the first place.
For those of you who do want to find out, please read: Of Swastika, Nazis and sacred symbols
Please FORWARD THIS LINK https://satyameva-jayate.org/2007/02/08/swastika-nazis-and-scared-symbols/ to friends and colleagues so that we can counter mis-information and ill-informed debate with facts and truth.
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P.S. Compare and contrast this response to another “incident” in the UK from about two years ago: “Harrods apology over Hindu bikinis“. Oddly, while a”Nazi symbol” evokes (justifiable but in this case, probably mis-directed) shock, people are surprised that Hindu Gods on bikinis caused offence.
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Might it be something to do with our famed “tolerance” and perception that Hindus are “a community (that) can (be)…victimise(d) with impunity?“
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Related Post:Â Of Swastika, Nazis and sacred symbols
UPDATE (additional reading):
EU Hindus oppose swastika ban��
If swastika is banned because some German Christian (Hitler) used it improperly, then Christian cross should also be banned because a fundamental Christian organization like Klux Klux Klan (KKK) use a burning cross against non –Christians.
Customer here was shocked to see swastika in a bag. (Though Swastika has been used as a peace symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism for centuries). Two years ago, people were surprised that Hindu Gods on bikinis caused offence.( ref:”Harrods apology over Hindu bikinis”).
A comment and my response to it from the cross post on DesiCritics on this topic.
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Comment by Ruvy in Jerusalem:
B. Shantanu,
I realize that the swastika has been a holy symbol to Hindus for millennia – and that it only became associated with the evil of Nazism because the Nazis took their ideas from a theosophist named Madame Blavatsky who lived in Madras for a time, and she grabbed up various symbols from Hinduism in constructing her philosophy; the Nazis adopted her symbol.
Having said all that, unless I saw a handbag of the type illustrated used in India, or another country where Hindus were a large percentage of the population, like the Guyanas or Fiji or in Natal in South Africa, I’d be offended. Hitler just wrecked the swastika for me. My family died under the sign of the swastika. And I will not forget that.
In no way am I looking down my long Jewish nose (which isn’t all that long) at Hindus in saying this. In Israel, one does not use the + sign in addition: the top of the plus sign is shaved off so as not to write a cross. Anybody wearing a cross (other than a Christian) is criticized here. The Christians and their persecution of my people have ruined even the + sign for us. The Nazis and their death camps accomplished the same for the swastika.
IN INDIA, were I to see I swastika, I’d keep quiet. To Hindus, this symbol does not mean jack-booted thugs murdering my people (well, there are exceptions, as I’ve recently learned). Were I to see one in a picture of a Hindu temple in Los Angeles, or anywhere else where it is truly a symbol of holiness, I’d keep quiet for the same reason. BUT EVERYWHERE ELSE the swastika means Nazism. And to me, Nazism means an ultimate evil to which man sinks.
You can blame Hitler for that. Now you now why Jews say y’máH sh’mó (may his name be erased) after saying Hitler. And now you know why you should do the same.
PS. Sticking pictures of Hindu gods or goddesses on bikinis is offensive in the extreme. Like a lot of things in secular western culture, it stinks of disrespect.
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My response:
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Anyways, the point that I was trying to make (which possibly was not clear – my fault) is that things/objects/symbols may have different meaning for different people and it would be nice if all of us could make an effort to understand the others’ viewpoint…
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@Ruvy: I can fully understand where you are coming from, and your anguish and discomfort. If I were in your shoes, I would have most likely felt the same way.
But you said something VERY IMPORTANT right at the beginning…which is, “I realize that the swastika has been a holy symbol to Hindus for millennia”.
this was THE POINT..
I appreciate that.
I am not sure if the customer and the shop assistants who were shocked realised that or made an attempt to understand how the symbol might have made its way into a handbag.
Here is what MIGHT have happened.
Zara, like many other retailers sources designs and items from all over the world including India (See Slide 39 in this presentation)
In India where the design was sourced from, the swastika of course has a completely different association – and is commonly found in art, craft items and in folk as well as contemporary designs.
It was part of the “design” that you see on the bag (thanks for including the picture, Aaman).
The design itself was just one amongst the several that were “approved” by a buyer – possibly from a sample. That is how it ultimately made it on the handbags sold in London.
Note that this is a “possible explanation”…
I may be wrong but I find it hard to believe that anyone in Europe would knowingly and deliberately put such a symbol on a bag and try to sell it in the shops.
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@ Jawahara (#2): Sorry I mis-spelled your name in my earlier comment (#4). Looks like Zara may turn up in India in a few months time. Check this link.
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Everyone, Thanks for contributing to the discussion.
Dear Sir,
I may be wrong, but the whole thing about the Swastika is misunderstood. The Nazi Swatika, is not the Hindu Swastika. If you go through it carefully, it can be seen that it is reversed Swastika that the Nazi’s used.
Regards,
vck
Hi Shantanu,
The Nazi swastika may be anticlockwise or clockwise, but for sure, it was rotated by 45 degree. Not exactly the Hindu Swastika, which necessarily was clockwise and in horizontal-vertical alignment.
By the way, I have added you to my reader.
VC and shadows: Thanks for your comments.
Shadows: You are right – the Nazi swastika is indeed at a slant – unlike the original Hindu symbol. I think I did mention this in my earlier post on Swastika – but I might have missed it (in which case I will add the point – it is an important distinction)…
and thanks for adding me to your reader…I really appreciate it and hope to see more of you here…
Shantanu,
there is a fundamental difference in hte “Swastika” of Nazis and Hindus / Buddhists. Nazi Swastilka is inverted!! which, even as per the Vedas is not a correct representation and is capable of having a reverse effect. History has proved it thus.