Christian groups in Mumbai have objected to the titles in a book series called “Sex Bible’, for sale on the e-commerce site Flipkart. On its part, the company has said that it will pull out the advertisement if it is perceived as offensive.
An NGO, Watchdog Foundation, which has complained to the Maharashtra police, the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary said the dle of the books had hurt the religious sentiments of the Christian community. “Such insensitivity displayed by Flipkart, one of India’s largest e-commerce platforms, is unacceptable.
As a corporation operating within our country’s legal framework, Flipkart must be held accountable for allowing such content to be published and promoted on its platform,” the group, Watchdog Foundation, said in its letter to government authorities.
Legally, the issue ts ina grey area he dictionary definition of the Bible, or the Holy Bible. is the holy book of the Christian religion consisting of the Old and New Testaments.
However, the words also used to describe an authuritative book or a magazine on a particular subject, for instance, a fashion or fitness bible. However, advovate Godfrey Pimenta of the Watchdog Foundation, who wrote to the government authorities after a complaint from one of his contacts, said while the word ‘Bible’ is used in non-religious contexts, their objection was the name of a holy book is being used to describe what looks like a sex manual.
Pimenta said while they had no objection to the use of words like ‘Bible and ‘gospel truth in a non-religious context, considering the content of the books in question, the titles were objectionable. Pimenta said the advertisers could be prosecuted under Section 302 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which imposes punishment up to one year and a fine for uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any people.
“We request the Mumbai police to initiate strict action against the Board of Directors and senior officials of Flipkart for this incident,” the Watchdog Foundation said and has asked Christians to boycott products sold on Flipkart as a sign of protest, until corrective action is taken. A Flipkart spokesperson said that in the past, they have pulled down advertisements if they hurt public sentiments. “We may not be wrong by law, but we have removed advertisements keeping in mind public sentiment. This advertisement can be removed,” the spokesperson added.
