Uber apologizes after banning “Swastika” Chandra from using its services for using her first name as “offensive.”
Uber, an online service aggregator, blocked an Australian lady of Indian descent from utilizing the ride-sharing and food delivery service because her first name, “Swastika,” was deemed objectionable. In an article, the New York Times said that the ride-sharing service has blacklisted the lady, whose full name is “Swastika Chandra.”.
Notably, many Indian, Eurasian, African, and American civilizations use the old “swastika” emblem. It is nevertheless more well recognized in the West as a representation of the German Nazi Party. Because it was a “potentially offensive” term, Uber immediately suspended her account in October of last year, which led to the current situation.
“I was putting in an order for food one afternoon and went to the payment stage and this pop-up came up saying, ‘Your first name is in violation and you need to change your name on the app,” she was cited as saying by the NYT.
Chandra, however, emphasized the contentious nature of the emblem by stating that she was proud of her name and that she would never alter it for anyone. She clarified that her first name was a popular name in Fiji, her childhood home, and that it meant “good luck” in Sanskrit. “They don’t know that the Hindus used it for thousands of years before Hitler used it in the wrong way,” she said.
According to media sources, it took Uber five months to give Chandra an exception. Only when the Hindu Council stepped in and she received backing from the NSW Attorney General was the exception granted.
