By INEPNEXT
Brussels: A Belgian garment company has apologized and withdrawn from circulation an undergarment with the picture of Lakshmi, the Hindu Goddess of wealth, following strong protests from the Indian community in Belgium.
The firm known as DOD based in Brussels in an email to INEPNEXT said “we are very sorry for having offended you, but not being conscious of the origin of the picture, we didn’t do it on purpose. “
“Of course all these items will be sent back to where they came from and today I will ask the shop to take them out of the shelves,’’ said the email Monday.
“Please accept our deepest apologies, we respect all religions and didn’t mean any harm,’’ it added.
However, contacted by INEPNEXT a lady at DOD who answered the phone said she could not say who manufactured the disgusting undergarment with the picture and where they came from.
She said that DOD has 17 outlets in Brussels, but the offending undergarment was on sale only in 3 shops which sell garments for men.
Earlier, Mr. Kapoor Chand Prem, President of Association of Trading in the Saint-Josse municipality of Brussels had lodged a strong protest with DOD.
Mr. Prem who is also the ex-vice president of Baratiya Samaj organization told INEPNEXT that the garment was an insult to “our religion and culture� and called for its immediate withdrawal from circulation.
Sumit Chatterjee, a long-time Indian resident in Belgium dispatched a protest letter to DOD.
“I was deeply shocked and astounded to see the picture of our Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth printed on an undergarment being displayed at your shops,â€? he said in his letter a copy of which was emailed to INEPNEXT.
He called for an “immediate withdrawal� of the product from display and sale.
The question, however, remains open as to who and in which country was the disgusting undergarment manufactured and whether it is on sale in other countries too.
INEPNEXT has the pictures of the undergarment but is not publishing it in respect for the religious sentiments of the Hindu community.