Amazon Canada in hot water with Indian minister for selling Indian flag doormats
The online retailer Amazon is facing some heat after India’s external affairs minister demanded on Twitter it remove an item she said insulted the national flag.
The Twitter storm began after a tweet alerting Minister Sushma Swaraj that Amazon.ca was selling doormats which have the Indian flag printed on them.
@SushmaSwaraj Madam. Amazon Canada must be censured and warned not to sell India flag doormats. Please take action. pic.twitter.com/td4KXlDUQL
— Atul Bhobe (@atulbhobe)
January 11, 2017
Sold by a third-party, the product has caused some online controversy and was the subject of a change.org petition demanding its removal.
On Wednesday, she tweeted the product was unacceptable and asked the Indian High Commission in Canada to take it up with Amazon at the highest level.
Indian High Commission in Canada : This is unacceptable. Please take this up with Amazon at the highest level. https://t.co/L4yI3gLk3h
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj)
January 11, 2017
Then, she demanded an “unconditional apology” from Amazon and a “withdrawal of all products insulting our national flag immediately.”
Amazon must tender unconditional apology. They must withdraw all products insulting our national flag immediately. /1
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj)
January 11, 2017
She issued a threat saying she would not grant an Indian visa to any Amazon official and rescind previously issued visas, if such products weren’t removed.
If this is not done forthwith, we will not grant Indian Visa to any Amazon official. We will also rescind the Visas issued earlier.
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj)
January 11, 2017
Swaraj — with almost seven million followers — is an active Twitter user and regularly employs social media to conduct her affairs. In July 2016, she tweeted that laid-off Indian workers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia would be taken care of after thousands of workers lost their jobs.
Amazon responds
In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Amazon Canada simply said “the item is no longer for sale on the site.”
It’s not the first time the online retailer has come under fire for selling offensive products. In 2015, CBC Go Public profiled a long-time customer who had advocated for the removal of Nazi paraphernalia from the online store.
Amazon has attempted to establish dominance in India’s online market — which some have described as the world’s next big e-commerce opportunity. However, it faces stiff competition from India-based rival Flipkart which was started in 2007 by two former Amazon employees.