E-Store Stops Selling Underwear with Religious Symbols
India West , News Report, Viji Sundaram, Posted: Feb 25, 2005
It took almost three weeks to do it, but the American Hindus Against Defamation finally prevailed and forced CafePress.com's vendors to stop selling thongs and boxer shorts that carried images of Hindu deities and symbols.
"Everything's gone, not a single offensive product is online now," AHAD convenor Ajay Shah told India-West at press time.
Shah began an online campaign against the electronic clearinghouse earlier this month, which provides space for some one million stores and six million products. About half a dozen of those stores carried thongs and boxer shorts with images of Lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva and the Om symbol.
More than once he tried unsuccessfully to contact CafePress manager Mahesh Jain, then sent off e-mails to its public relations spokeswoman Erin Fors, suggesting that sale of those products violated the terms of service vendors were supposed to abide by, Shah told India-West.
Two weeks ago, Fors wrote to one of the vendors who was selling the controversial underwear, Geoffrey Haselhurst of haselhurst@wave-structure-of-matter.org, saying that while she couldn't force him to remove the offensive underwear, since he was "not in violation of the shopkeeper's agreement," he could however consider pulling them off his racks, given that some 100 complaints had reached her from members of AHAD.
Haleslhurst said he would, even going so far as to apologize. "I inadvertently hurt people at times without meaning to...but I mean no harm," he said in a joint e-mail to Fors and Shah.
Shah said that a couple of the other vendors who were holding out until earlier this week have also removed their products.
"We are glad we were able to resolve this issue without having to go to a lawyer," he said.
Last month, a barrage of angry mail from members of the Sikh and Islamic communities forced vendors on CafePress.com's site to remove underwear that carried the image of the Khanda and the crescent.
At press time, the online marketplace still carried underwear with images of Jesus on them.
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