A doormat resembling India’s tricolor flag was removed from Amazon’s Canadian website after an Indian government official directed threats at the Seattle-based company, Reuters reported Wednesday.
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj called on Amazon to apologize unconditionally and remove any products insulting the Indian flag. She tweeted that if Amazon failed to do so, visas would not be granted to Amazon employees and those already granted would be rescinded.
https://twitter.com/SushmaSwaraj/status/819192573134680064
https://twitter.com/SushmaSwaraj/status/819192941130326016
The flag doormats were visible in an Amazon website screen grab tweeted at Swaraj by another user. Reuters reported that they were being offered by a third-party seller on the Canadian site and were taken down on Wednesday. An Amazon spokesperson said in an email to Reuters that the item was “no longer for sale on the site.”
https://twitter.com/SushmaSwaraj/status/819177814037512193
Reuters reported that Amazon’s Canadian portal sells doormats fashioned around other national flags, but under Indian law any desecration of its flag is punishable with fines and imprisonment.
Meanwhile, a quick search of Amazon.com here in the U.S. found that shoppers could get their hands on American flag bathroom mat for just $10.
