Rattled by a petition in a Hyderabad court, a US brewery has apologised for using the image of Mahatma Gandhi on beer cans, asserting in the same breath that its intention was to pay “homage” to Bapu and not to offend the Indian people.
The apology by the Connecticut-based New England Brewing Company came in the wake of a petition filed by advocate S Janardhan Goud, terming the company’s action “highly condemnable and punishable under Indian laws”. In his petition, slated to come up for hearing on Monday, Goud has sought punishment under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, and 124-A of IPC (related to us inflammatory words, signs or visible representation).
Responding to the petition, the company posted a statement on its Facebook page, saying: “We apologise to any Indian people that find our Gandhi-Bot label offensive. Our intent is not to offend anyone but rather pay homage and celebrate a man who we respect greatly.” It went on to say: “We take great care in creating a product we hope will not be abused in the manner that Mahatma Gandhi spoke of when referencing alcohol. So many Indian people here in America love our tribute to him.”
The company further claimed that Gandhiji’s granddaughter and grandson (without naming them) have not only seen the label, but even expressed their admiration of it. “We hope that you understand our true intent and learn to respect our method and the freedom we have to show our reverence for Gandhi,” said the company, based in Woodbridge.
The Gandhi-Bot is touted as one of the highly-rated IPAs (India pale ale) available in the American market, enjoying a 97 out of 100 rating on BeerAdvocate.com and 99 out of 100 on RateBeer.com. It was not immediately clear when the company came up with Gandhi-bot, but the controversy apparently erupted only after it launched the brand internationally.