Gandhi beer insults 'India's honour'

A New England Brewing spokesman claimed Gandhi's grand-daughter and grandson had seen and "admired" the beer label. Photo / New England Brewing Company

Descendants of Mahatma Gandhi have criticised an American brewery that put the image of India's teetotal independence campaigner on tins of beer.

Tushar Gandhi, his great-grandson, said he was considering legal action against the New England Brewery Company, based in Connecticut.

"How can anyone think of using Mahatma Gandhi's picture on a bottle of alcoholic product?" he asked.

"All his life he abhorred alcohol drinking and spoke against it. No-one has consulted us or sought our permission to use his picture. We are contemplating legal action for hurting the sentiments of millions of people."

The brewery said it was sorry if it had offended anyone by using Gandhi's name and image for its Gandhi-Bot India Pale Ale, which it billed as "vegetarian" and a perfect aid for those seeking truth and love. It indicated that the beer would not be withdrawn, despite a lawyer in Hyderabad suing over what he described as an illegal insult to the India's honour.

Matt Westfall, a company spokesman, said: "We do apologise if the good people of India find our Gandhi-Bot label offensive. Our intent is not to offend anyone but rather pay homage and celebrate a great man who we respect greatly."

He claimed that Gandhi's grand-daughter and grandson had seen and "admired" the beer label. However, other descendants described the use of his image to sell alcohol as "horrendous".

Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Gandhi's grandson, said it was "crass and silly" but part of a much wider "commodification" that should be challenged.

The Indian government recently used Gandhi's distinctive spectacles as a logo for a public hygiene campaign. "Our concern should be the retrieval of his larger ideology of non-violence, pluralism and human ideals," his grandson said.