Guest guest Posted May 6, 2001 Report Share Posted May 6, 2001 Hardline Hindus: Close McDonald's in India Reuters NEW DELHI - A hardline Hindu organization demanded yesterday that fast-food giant McDonald's shut down operations in India after it was sued in the U.S. over the use of animal extract. About 60 activists of the right-wing Shiv Sena, part of India's federal coalition, marched to the office of the Indian branch of McDonald's and submitted a memorandum demanding closure of its outlets in the country, the world's second most populous. "Today it is a symbolic protest. We came to warn them to shut down the restaurants," Jai Bhagwan Goel, the Delhi head of the Shiv Sena, said. McDonald's reiterated that the French fries that it served in India, whose majority Hindus regard the cow as sacred, did not contain any animal extracts. "McDonald's India would like to assure you that French fries in India are a 100 percent vegetarian product and do not contain any beef or animal extract of whatsoever kind," the company said in an advertisement published in the Hindustan Times yesterday. The Press Trust of India quoted McDonald's Delhi Managing Director Vikram Bakshi as saying that all McDonald's outlets were open in the Indian capital after taking "necessary precautions." Last week a vegetarian lawyer and native Indian, Harish Bharti, filed suit against McDonald's in the U.S., accusing it of "secretly" lacing its French fries with beef fat. A report on the case appeared in a leading Indian newspaper on Friday, stirring protests and attacks on the fast-food chain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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