Jeddah: The Swastika has auspicious significance among Hindus and is commonly imprinted on It is very common to imprint the swastika sign on new articles, vehicles and houses.
A Telugu family that recently moved to Saudi Arabia landed into trouble after they imprinted the symbol at their main entrance.
A person from Guntur recently moved to Saudi Arabia to work as an engineer in the Eastern Province and began his life in the Arab Country marking the Swastika, a religious symbol, on the main entrance of his flat.
However, the symbol was noticed by an Arab individual living in the same apartment and apparently, a cultural misunderstanding led him to believe that his new neighbour had posted a Nazi emblem on his door. The Nazi emblem actually is slanted to 45 degrees and is distinct from the ‘swastika’ symbol, but the Arab man obviously did not know the difference.
He first requested the Guntur native family to erase the symbol, which they declined saying it had nothing to do with any ideology and tried to explain its auspicious significance in welcoming visitors. However, the Arab was not convinced and took the matter to the police, who arrested Indian.
The Indian’s wife has now approached the Indian Embassy and Telugu social worker Muzzamil Shaikh for help. Nass Vokkam, a prominent Indian community volunteer is also working to secure his release.
There have been several instances of people unfamiliar with the original ‘Swastika’ mistaking it for the Nazi symbol that resembles a ‘hooked cross’ but this could be the first instance in Saudi, where an Indian has landed in jail for using the symbol that is ubiquitous in India.
