USA Todayreports that some are angry that the man who advocated a simple lifestyle is the "poster boy" for Montblanc's latest pen. The gold and silver pen was launched by Montblanc to commemorate the 140th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth. USA Today says one group has filed a lawsuit to try and stop the sale of the pen.
The decision to turn a man who shunned foreign-made products and pushed simple living to new extremes into a "brand ambassador" — as one local website put it — for a global luxury goods maker has left some Indians puzzled and others angry.
One group filed a lawsuit Thursday to try and halt distribution of the pen.
"Mahatma Gandhi advocated a simple lifestyle," Dijo Kappen, who filed the suit and is managing trustee of the Center for Consumer Education in the southern state of Kerala, told the Associated Press. "He was, of course, a nationalist and, in the nature of the independence struggle, the only thing he promoted was Indian-made goods. It is a mockery of the great man and an insult to the nation ... to use him as a poster-boy."
The BBC and Washington Post also have stories documenting the outrage over the pen. Montblanc's chief executive Lutz Bethge told the BBC, "I certainly have to say, I wouldn't have thought that people would have reacted negatively."
The pen bears an image of Gandhi as you can see in the video below. Only 241 of the limited-edition pens were make.
Gandhi's Possessions Sold at Auction For $1.8 Million
Mahatma Gandhi's glasses, pocket watch, sandals, plate and bowl sold at an Antiquorum USA auction for $1.8 million.
The New York Timessays the buyer was an Indian businessman who intends to return the items to India for public display.
The buyer was identified as Vijay Mallya, an Indian liquor and airline executive who owns the company that makes Kingfisher beer. A representative for Mr. Mallya, Tony Bedi, did the bidding and later announced that the belongings would be returned to India for public display, but it was not clear whether they would be turned over to the government, as some officials have demanded.
Indian officials had maintained that the auction- scheduled to be completed on Thursday afternoon in Manhattan-was illegal, but also that they were continuing to negotiate with the owner, James Otis, over a possible resolution. Ultimately, the government and Mr. Otis were not successful in halting the auction.
India protested the sale of Gandhi's possessions and was in discussions with the seller. The owner of the items had tried to cancel the sale at the last minute to no avail. Katie Couric explains:
