LONDON, Nov 6: Britain's Hindu community is up in arms against one of the country's largest shoemakers, Clarks, for calling two new designs of shoes after their deities, Vishnu and Krishna.Hindu groups will demonstrate against Clarks in Leicester this weekend and demand that the shoes - a summer sandal and a calf-high winter boot - be withdrawn.The names appear on the boxes in which they are supplied and not on the shoes themselves. The design, Vishnu, is a 30 pound summer sandal in metallic, black or navy while Krishna is a 89 pound black boot. The trouble first started when someone in Leicester bought the sandal this summer and noticed the name on the box. Community leaders say they complained to Clarks, which refused to withdraw the sandal. They say they have gone public because the company has now introduced the winter boot, Krishna, into the market.Clarks has apologised and ordered its staff to cover up the names on the shoeboxes. A spokesman for the company, John Keery, said, ``The names were picked in all innocence and only used internally for the staff to identify different styles of shoes easily. They were not meant to offend anyone''. Keery said that the complaints had come from Hindu organisations rather than from customers, but they were concerned not to cause any offence.Mahesh Prasher, secretary of the Hindu Religious and Cultural Society in Leicester said that Hindus could not have been more insulted: ``Footwear is considered unclean in our religion and that is why shoes are always removed before entering temples. Hindus also consider the cow to be sacred, so to associate both footwear and leather products with our gods causes huge offence and insult.''Others who claim and aspire to be ``community leaders'' have added their voices to the clamour. The recently en-nobled Lord Bagri, chairman of the London Metal Exchange, says that he is ``disappointed and concerned at the lack of research by the company. In a multi-racial and multi-religious society like we have in this country, it is the obligation of marketing departments to make sure that they do not cause offence to religious and other sensitivities.''Keith Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester and self-styled spokesman for all ethnic causes said, ``You are not supposed to call the things you walk on after gods. The Christian equivalent would be to name a line of shoes after Jesus and the Virgin Mary. I am very concerned and have written to Clarks for an explanation. I don't want to go over the top, but there are religious points that need looking into.''A spokesperson for Britian's largest Hindu temple, the Swaminarayan temple in London, which takes pains to present Hinduism as a modern rational religion, struck a different note: ``I am sure it was not mean to be disrespectful. Mistakes happen and it is a part of human life. The fact that products are named after gods does not affect the status of the gods.''Clarks is the second shoe company to find itself in difficulties with the men of god. The sports goods manufacturers, Nike, was criticised for using a symbol of Allah on a range of training shoes. And India's former cricket captain, Mohammad Azharuddin, was in trouble with a section of Muslims for autographing a range of Reebok shoes, since he not only associated the name of the prophet with the shoe, but actually inscribed it on the shoe.The ever vigilant Hindus of Leicester have, in the past, protested against other businesses who appear to be showing disrespect to their gods. In 1992, in Leicester, they demanded that a French waste management company remove its initials, SITA, from the sides of its garbage vans, as this spelt the name of a Hindu goddess.
