Karnataka fumes as bikini resembling state flag put on sale

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Karnataka fumes as bikini resembling state flag put on sale
Karnataka fumes as bikini resembling state flag put on sale
  • Amazon pulls out product in Canada 

Bengaluru: After an outcry from Karnataka as bikinis resembling the State flag were put on sale in Canada, Amazon pulled out the product Sunday.

The bikini resembled the Karnataka flag featuring the state emblem and its red and yellow colours.

Though it was pulled out in Canada, the bikini was reportedly available on Amazon in the United Kingdom, Japan, and Mexico.

Legal Action

Kannada and culture minister Arvind Limbavali said legal action would be initiated against Amazon Canada.

“The Kannada language, culture and heritage have a history of thousands of years. We strongly condemn any act to hurt the Kannada identity by foreign companies that are ignorant of Kannada’s nobility,” the minister, who called for a boycott of Amazon, said in a statement.

This is a matter of Kannadigas’ self-pride and we will not tolerate the rise in such incidents. Amazon Canada should, therefore, apologise to Kannadigas. Legal action will be taken immediately against them, Limbavalli added.

Amazon is yet to formally react to the incident.

Opposition demands probe

The opposition Congress urged the state government to initiate a probe. “Who wants to hurt Kannada pride and why? Who has a problem with our resilient people, our great culture and traditions? Hope the Karnataka government will investigate,” state Congress chief DK Shivakumar said.

“Resilient Kannada people will not take such horrendous acts lying down. The recent attempts to humiliate Kannadigas using Amazon and Google raises an important question,” Shivakumar added.

The bikini incident comes just two days after a Google search result depicted Kannada as the ugliest language. The search engine apologised and removed the search result a few hours after the Karnataka government decided to issue a legal notice.

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