Calling it blasphemous, Delhi Gurudwara committee President and Politician Manjinder Singh Sirsa has called out the Chinese-based website for using an image of one of the holiest Sikh shrines, the Golden Temple, in the backdrop of an image of shoes in an advertisement.
Sirsa threatened the company with legal consequences if the advertisement wasn’t taken down immediately.
Questioning the obligation of using the image of the Sikh shrine in the advertisement, the politician has also asked Shein India to render a public apology for hurting the sentiments of the Sikh community.
Some netizens who use the shopping website were quick to slam it and asked the company to remove the advertisement.
Earlier, India’s top governing body of Sikh shrines, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), slammed an event management company for replicating the “Golden Temple” as a Durga Puja marquee in the Indian state of West Bengal.
On Tuesday, the Sikh community across globe celebrated the biggest and most important festival, Guru Purab. Hundreds of devotees thronged brightly-lit Sikh temples, langar – community kitchen – services were set up, and devotees paid obeisance to Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak, who was born in 1469 into a Hindu family at Nankana Sahib in Pakistan.