22 Mar 2003 Sanjiv Joshi, USA
Great job IndiaCause! But this is not enough. I am angry and annoyed by
this article in MAXIM. I think their apology is not sufficient and lacks
respect with full heart. What do they mean by "some people"? What if there
was a picture of Jesus Christ or George Washington instead of Gandhiji. I
have already formed a group and am looking for support from India and within
USA. I want MAXIM to stop all this nonsense once for all. I think they want
to gain on negative-publicity on their launch of new edition in South-Asia.
Let us pressurize them to apologize with full heart and make them fund a few
of Gandhiji’s dreams as compensation.12 Mar 2003 Sandip Patel, US
When speaking of our culture, let us remember that the US has no culture
of its own. All the "culture" this country has comes from the countries
abroad whose citizens have come here. Let us be proud of the culture we have
brought here. Furthermore, to those who don't have the capacity to understand
it, let them continue their persuit of greatness- remember there is not
greatness in being ignorant. I think that Maxim magazine has just advertised
its ignorance to the country and to the world. I know not of one person who
would stand up and say that he/she is ignorant and be proud of that fact. I
do believe that people should exercise some responsibility when it comes to
the "freedom of speech" that we all boast about to other nations. For any
civilized person to speak his mind without thought or consideration of how
his ideas affect his peers is not only ignorant, its outright disrespectful.
I'm sure Maxim will publish their next issue with their sugarcoated
apologies, and it will mean nothing. A racist will always be known as a
racist, a child molester is known as a child molester. No apology will make
up for this. Don't let ur anger regarding this get the best of you, voice it,
but let it go. Forgiveness is one thing, forgetting is another.
11 Mar 2003 S.Gopalakrishna , India
Congratulations!! For the great campaign. Why don't we protest when
malicious homespun fanatic Indians (VHP leader Togadia) glorifies killing of
Gandhi. What is your thoughts on running similar kind of campaigns to
eradicate the corruption, the poverty and bring the population under control
and provide 100 % literacy and the employment in India?
11 Feb 2003 NDS Kaushal, USA,
Just the apology is not enough. Magzine must be sued in US.
11 Feb 2003 Sudhir R Parekh, USA,
Great job IndiaCause! Thanks for all the work you do.
11 Feb 2003 Srinivasa Rao,Varrey, USA
The statement issued by Mixim is not satisfying. Because in the statement
they used "WE APOLOGIZE IF" i.e they are apologizing conditionally and not
fully. It is the clever way of putting the words. Don't get satisfied for
something.
09 Feb 2003 pradeep parepalli, INDIA,
IT IS SHAME ON THE PART OF THE CARTOONIST TO DRAW THIS KIND OF CARTOONS.
THESE THINK TANKS SHOULD GO INTO THEIR MIND BEFORE DRAWING THESE KIND OF
SKETCHES. IT IS SAD TO SEE, PLEASE REFRAIN THESE KIND OF CARTOONS WHICH
INFLICTS THE INDIANS WHY BECAUSE HE (MR. GANDHI) IS CONSIDERED AS OUR "
FATHER OF NATION ". MAY GOD FOR GIVE THE CARTOONIST
07 Feb 2003 Raghava T., India,
Its very sad to see this act of Maxim. I wish this apology will make some
positive effect on others. thanks.....
05 Feb 2003 Vinod Negi, USA,
Lots of people may disagree with Mahatma Gandhi but no one has the right
to show him in a voilent article like Maxim did.
05 Feb 2003 Chid Kollengode, USA,
One of the good aspects of democracy is the right for free speech. But
that right must come with lots of responsibility, tolerance and good
judgement. It is distressing what Maxim did. Whatever the motivation - be it
selling more or bashing someone or bashing a community - the very act of
publishing something like this is appalling. Similarly tolerance is
important, but not at the cost of self-respect. It is great that the magazine
is "considering" the wording for the apology, but I think this is not enough.
As one of the readers suggested, it is important to work hard to force them
to write something good about Gandhiji. That serves the larger purpose of
conveying the right things that a great man stood for.
05 Feb 2003 Mahesh Mahajan,
Yes, Great insult has been commited. Apology is to fool us. Great damage
has been done by this irresponsible magazine. A similar cartoon depicting the
editors mother or daughter in Bikinis getting beat up by a beach muscle man
in the next issue is a better apology
05 Feb 2003 Veena, USA,
This is a gross insult of India, Indian culture and Indians. The editor/Maxim
must be sued for this insult.
04 Feb 2003
Rita Frenchman gavankar, USA,
Apologising is not enough. The fitness booklet should go off the market
pronto. This is what we should aim for
04 Feb 2003 Vincent Bingham, United States,
This is another case of whites promoting their ignorance in this country
just to get a laugh. They think it's funny, because they have no culture to
call their own. Don't let these people fool you, they do understood the role
Ghandi played in India's struggle, and yet, they choose to make fun of it. As
a black american, the closest I can relate to Ghandi is through Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. I know the influence Ghandi had on Dr. King, and those are
subjects you just don't touch. It's no different than how blacks and asians
are exploited as evil, or stupid characters in cartoon strips. Abercrombie
and Fitch did the same thing with their line of shirts with Asians on the
front. These people like that, and don't think anything is wrong with it. You
would think these articles have to be approved by someone that knows how far
to go when you are offending someone, but in this case, a laugh was more
important. More than likely, Keith Blanchard didn't even write that apology,
his secretary did. In Blanchard's apology, he tries to disclaim it by saying
that Ghandi was the least likely person to get in a fight. That is B.S, and
he knows it. No, he wouldn't get in a fight like that, but is he the only
one? A picture of that big guy, and a smaller guy would still be a valid
description of what they were trying to accomplish in that article. It was
Ghandi for a reason, and everyone that had something to do with that article
knows that. Just to proove that, they couldn't even find anyone in the the
United States to use as a victim. There are lots of figures over here in the
U.S that we couldn't picture getting into a fight.
04 Feb 2003 Manu Bhardwaj, U.S.A.,
This is B.S. why can't they use Martin Luther King are they afaird of
black American's,or how about Mother Theresa! You will never find that in any
publication in the U.S.
04 Feb 2003 ALEYA HUSSAIN JUNG, USA,
I wish someone, some organization, sues the hell out of maxim, ignorance
is no excuse and these people at maxim are obviously ignorant with what the
the MAHATMA means for indians and his contribution to this world. I also wish
popular magzines and newspapers expose maxims imperialastic and rascist
views, right now it looks like only Indian periodicals are writing anything
about this.
04 Feb 2003 Alexander C. Rainey, U.S.A.,
Yes, the animation does look pretty insensitive. My comment would be that
many people in this country, probably mainly those who live , eat and sleep
on their computers, and who have never travelled, tend to live in a fantasy
world, are thus probably not aware of human things like senstivity and human
warmth, and so they wouldn't notice if something hurt people's feelings or
not. They spend half their time brutalizing the fantasy figures on their
screen anyway. So they probably can't see the difference. Sorry. I don't know
about your magazine. And it doesn't look as though I'm likely to be
interested either, judging from this news.
04 Feb 2003 Dilip Ghosh, New Zealand,
Just an apology is not enough for such type of humilation. People in
Maxim should respect our heritage, culture, customs and power.
03 Feb 2003 Madhusudhana Reddy Atchi,
The apology is insufficient. The images were shocking. Showing Mahathma
in a such poor light suggests how well this magazine respects sentiments of
people. Let me express my severe displeasure and anger.
03 Feb 2003 Nithya Chandra, USA,
I commend you and thank you with all of my heart for acting as a voice
for people of Indian descent throughout the world and getting an apology from
Maxim Magazine.
03 Feb 2003 Ashwin Desai, USA,
MAXIM's apology would be more convincing if accompanied by a substantial
financial contribution to NGOs based at Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad, India.
They have resources to make amends if their apology is sincere.
03 Feb 2003 Chuck Kleymeyer, USA,
This is offensive and appalling. And the apology was weak. While I
recognize Maxim's freedom to express themselves, I also declare my right to
protest and to boycott their publication.
03 Feb 2003 ravichandran, India,
The most atrocisous and demeaning pictures. I take a dim view of the
article.Should definitely apologise and refrain from publishing cartoons of
persons of high stature and regarded as great in any country and not only
India.
03 Feb 2003 malini deepak, usa,
Thank you for making the offensive Maxim material an issue.
Congratulations! And thanks a lot for ensuring that the US media focused on
Kalpana Chawla's successful life rather than a misconception of what had
occured on an earlier flight.
Feb 2003 narendra pratap, india,
do something crazy to their leader
02 Feb 2003 Sreeram, United States,
Not enough....... they don't seem to repent. It would be good for all to
teach them a lesson by bringing them to the court of law.
02 Feb 2003 Sejal Shah, USA,
I appreciate the initiative, you have taken. We should protest more
aggressively next time.
02 Feb 2003 jyoti singh,india,
I think that this is a great insult to the greatest man and one of the
biggest countries. This thing should not be entertained & I as an Indian
demand an unconditional apology for this nonsense and such indecent articles
mustn't be put up again & that this site should be banned.
I was very much hurt after reading this article and it can be the work of
only an insane organisation having no sense of responsibility and
righteousness. I appeal to all human beings reading the article to consider
and introspect the role played by the Mahatma who continues to inspire till
date. It is for the notice of the nonsense writer and their accomplices. We
feel sorry for you all who have never ever learnt the art of tolerance and
meaning of dedication as your ancestors , your parents have never taught you
so. Infact you people can shoot your mother, father Dont worry , your
children will do the same. That is why you have maximum number of oldage
homes , divorce rates. Thanks to our father of nation , we believe in love
,truth, tolerance & non-violence. If you have guts come to India and speak a
word against our Father Rest would be history. YOU DARE NOT INSULT OUR
COUNTRY LIKE THIS.
02 Feb 2003 Longpole, USA
What is meant by " ..interpreted as offensive"? does it need the
intelligence of a rocket scientist to honestly admit it was an offensive and
deliberate cheap attempt to infuse machoism in its readers who may be lacking
it. And was it an "edgy sense of humor laced with irony"? The appology is not
from heart. It seems the maxim still does not respond by understanding of
power of Gandhism to which it had to bow. The power of Gandhism is people's
abhorance to indecency and hypocracy.
02 Feb 2003 Yogita Jethwani, USA
I didn't think the apology was good enough. I think they need to do a lot
more to prove they meant the apology. Maybe publish an article about all the
good things Mahatma Gandhi has done for the entire world not just Souh
Asians, for example being a role model to even Martin Luther King, Jr.
02 Feb 2003 RAJESH TRIPATHI, INDIA
OUTRAGEOUS & OUTRIGHT OFFENDING MATERIAL.The ppublishers should be sued
for hurting the National sentiments. Even more annoying when the country is
celebrating his death Annniversary.
02 Feb 2003 Sachin Jain, India
Thats a way to go.. we have to show the world that we cannot take all this
bull shit sitting lightly.. even Ghandiji taught us not to lie down to these
kinds of insult.. this is infact a sin in itself..
01 Feb 2003 Sandeep Khurana, United States
Great job. We should not let anyone take us for granted. We have to keep
a good watch on groups like MAXIM in near future also.
01 Feb 2003 Arpit M, India
One need to have a high level of undersranding to understand Ghandismn.I
feel pity on maxim rather than angry.This is a time fo r maxim to publish
written apology.I request maxim to have apology published as soon as possible
01 Feb 2003 Milind Patil, USA
Apology is not sufficient; you will have to publish all of Gandhi's great
and rich quotes about peace, love and humanity. This will show us if you
really have any respect for the great person. You have insulted a great
person who has librated an entire sub-continent without ANY act of violence,
just peaceful means.
01 Feb 2003 asmita shiyani, uk
well done to IndiaCause for not giving up and standing up for beliefs
01 Feb 2003 akhil sharma, INDIA
It is deeply hurting that the leaders whom the whole world see as a
messenger of peace, harmony & tolerance is being shown as a subject matter of
jokes.for purely commercial purposes such a disdain shown by any such entity
is completely unacceptable.i request the US courts to take a stern action
against the magazine & expect the US congress to enact a law banning such
publications. anyway would the US govt. allow such depiction of sir George
Washington
01 Feb 2003 GM Dhavan, Norway
Maxim apology came only because the Magazine was cornered this time. They
had published anti-Ganhdi hate articles before also and got away with that.
The Maxim represents the reprehensible establishment in the US who are
against any paficist movements..... US is not scared of terrorists or al
queda or dictators but are scared of any Gandhian Movements against which
their might has no value!
01 Feb 2003 Maya, India
U OWE INDIANS AN APOLOGY !
01 Feb 2003 ravinder singh negi, india
i appriciate ur affart my best wishes to u
01 Feb 2003 V Gupta, US
This is most insulting, not just for Gandhiji, or for Indians, but for
the entire humanity. It is sorry depcition of how far some people will take
their right to free speech. I wonder if the authors and editors would still
think of this as edgy humour if their own deceased parents were depicted in
this fashion. Or maybe they won't even blink, given the character of this
society.
01 Feb 2003 Deepak, USA
You should not have done this
01 Feb 2003 Kaumudi Parikh, U.S.A.
Congratulations for succesful campaign.
01 Feb 2003 ASHA KIRAN JAIN, INDIA
This is idiotic, and nonscense. Your irony or humour should not degrade
the image of a great person, father of nation, of a great nation (INDIA
Republic). You should apologise to all Indians in and out of the country. You
should take care that such foolishnes should not be repeated.
01 Feb 2003 Aseem Swarup Johri, Canada
your campaign to save the prestige of Mahatma Gandhi, made me join your
group. well done!!!
01 Feb 2003 Santhosh Thadathil, USA,
this is too much !! generally indians are keeping patience, they thought
the can do any dirty dramatic things. but things we cannot tolerate. give
appropriate punishment to those slanderer at any cost.
01 Feb 2003 Ratheesh, India
Its happy to hear that Maxim made apology for there doings..... But make sure
that any media should not make such comments on our National Leaders....
01 Feb 2003 Praveen Prakash, India
Its happy to hear that Maxim made apology for there doings.....But they are
doing this for increasing there circulation....How dare can they tease our
Father Of Nation ? For that they need to attain more culture than us....
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