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Russian brewery Rewort has asked for forgiveness after pictures of its beer cans with Mahatma Gandhi's image and signature went viral. In a written response to News Agency, the brand sought understanding and said it "did not want to offend anyone".
Earlier this week, on February 13, Suparno Satpathy, politician and grandson of former Odisha chief minister Nandini Satpathy, shared photos of beer cans with Mahatma Gandhi's image on it. Mr Satpathy urged Indian authorities to take up the matter with Russia.
The brand Rewort has now responded to News Agency's request for comment and clarified that it had apologised for the situation a year ago. "Yes, indeed, we had a stylized Mahatma Gandhi on the label, a man whom we admire and wanted to pay tribute to his good work and good deeds," it said.
However, after the Indian embassy contacted the brand a year ago, they took the variety out of production, it said.
"There may be old remnants somewhere, but soon they will disappear. We will try to recall them if we see them anywhere," it added.
"We have deep respect for the friendly people of India and in no way did we want to offend anyone," Rewort said.
A video of two people checking out the beer cans is doing rounds on the internet. One of the men can be heard saying, "Hum currency pe leke ghoom rahe hain (We are carrying him around on our currency)."
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The netizens, in the comments section, condemned the act. A user highlighted how Mr Gandhi was against the idea of alcohol. "Abe yaha to inke name pe dry day hota hai (We mark a dry day in his name), a user commented.
"That's terrible," wrote another.
Another said, "It is bad, no one should disrespect father of nation."
This is not the first time Mahatma Gandhi's image has been misused. In 2019, an Israeli company used Mr Gandhi's image on its liquor bottles to commemorate Israel's 71st Independence Day.