Mumbai, India - Restaurant Under Fire, Drops Hitler From Name

Mumbai, India - A restaurant in India's financial hub has agreed to change its name from "Hitler's Cross" following strong protests by the country's tiny Jewish community and pressure from around the world.

"Hitler's Cross", which opened a week ago using posters of the Fuehrer and Nazi swastikas for publicity as was reported here on VOS IZ NEIAS, initially refused to change its name, but relented on Thursday and covered its signboards with white cloth.

The restaurant's name and its marketing gimmick had infuriated India's Jewish population, which had said it would fight any attempts at "rehabilitating Hitler".

"We acknowledge that the name adopted by us for our restaurant was most inappropriate," Satish Sabhlok, one of the owners of the multi-cuisine restaurant, said in a statement. "Our intention was not to glorify Hitler or his atrocities or ideology in any way and we regret the anguish caused by the use of this name."

The owners were yet to decide on a new name, he added.

The Indian Jewish Federation, the community's umbrella organisation, said it was relieved.