I don't know if this can be filed under cultural misunderstands or utter stupidity, but I'm leaning towards utter stupidity. Puneet Sablok opened a Hitler themed restaurant in Bombay with or without understanding or caring if doing so offended anyone.
Owner Puneet Sablok insisted then -- and still does -- that the name and theme of his new eatery is only meant to attract attention, with its posters of Adolf Hitler and swastikas.Yep, I'm leaning towards stupidity here. I might even throw in cultural insensitivity. Sablok has no intent to rename to restaurant or remove the Nazi memorabilia. So, when his establishment is fire bombed, Sablok will have no one to blame but himself.
"There is no intention to hurt anyone," Sablok said of his spacious restaurant, which serves pastries, pizza and salad in Navi Mumbai, a northern suburb of Bombay, which is also known as Mumbai.
Now, if you will excuse me, I must leave for the Pancake Hut, which has been newly renamed as the David Duke Flapjack Factory - because, you know, those skinheads are good for business.
For more info, Sweetness and Light has an interesting take on this.
Technorati Tags: Hitler, Nazi, India, Culture
Someone on the Volokh Conspiracy pointed out that in the US there are many Communist-themed restaurants and bars, and no one gets overly excited at that, or imagines that the owners want to send people off to Gulags.
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