Nazi memorabilia on sale on Flipkart, manufacturer agrees to pull back

Parikshit Vivekanand |The News Minute | November 20, 2014 | 12:15 pm IST Flipkart, one of the largest e-commerce websites in the country is currently in controversy for the sale of Nazi symbol printed mouse pads. These products might be ordinary mouse pads for some but for many others who lived through that period it is a constant reminder of the horrific tragedy experienced during that time.“I think it’s a disgrace considering what exactly the Swasthika has stood for in terms of the Holocaust. It’s all about drawing a line as to how far you’d go to sell your products. Some wouldn’t mind walking along it, others would happily skip past it. It’s a question about ethics and there are bound to be people who work around it”, said Shamir Reuben a journalist from Pune of Jewish origin.Flipkart took a more legal approach on their stand and moderation model used for their products when the Newsminute got in touch with their spokesperson who responded saying, “Products sold on our website are listed by our sellers. We act as a platform to connect sellers and customers and are always in compliance with the laws of the land. We take strict action against sellers who attract negative feedback about their service or are found to be engaged in selling products that are fake, in violation of copyright or any other applicable laws of the land. Measures adopted range from removing specific products from the site to even suspending and at times delisting errant sellers in extreme cases.”The manufacturers of the product on the other hand did not anticipate the magnitude of outrage such designs could create but were accommodating enough to discontinue with the sale of the product. The Flipkart webpage from which the product can be bought currently displays that the product is out of stock.Other e-commerce websites like eBay have a strict policy against the sale of offensive material and have specifically listed Nazi memorabilia as being against their company policy. In 2008 Amazon, was involved in a controversy for the sale of Nazi memorabilia on its website which included t-shirts that praised Nazi leaders. In 2013 they were again found to be selling Nazi lighters and Nazi flags according to a report on the Jewish Journal. They were again flagged in 2014 and were asked to take down a line of leggings carrying images of Hindu gods and goddesses from its site following protests from Hindu groups.