ROYAL MAIL TO AVOID SELLING OFFENSIVE 68P STAMP
(9 November 2005)

The Hindu Forum of Britain today welcomed the discussions between the Department of Trade and Industry and the Royal Mail which resulted in a decision on 4th November that Post Office branches would not to issue the 68 pence Christmas stamp to customers unless specifically requested. The 68p Christmas stamp featured a picture of Hindus worshipping Baby Christ, and had led to calls for a withdrawal by Hindu organisations in the UK.

However, at a meeting on 7th November between Hindu organisations and Royal Mail, it was discovered that Royal Mail had not yet communicated this message of withdrawal to the 40,000 Post Office counters. As a result, Post Office counters were still selling the stamp until the evening of 7th November.

“We had our people walking into Post Offices on 5th and 7th November to check if the counter clerks had actually received a message from the head office asking them to avoid selling the stamps,” claimed Arjan Vekaria, Chair of the Hindu Forum of Britain’s security committee. “But the clerks were continuing to sell the stamps and informed us they had no such message from their head office. This was unacceptable.”

“It would have taken Royal Mail thirty minutes on Friday to have designed and sent this message to every counter in the country but even after four days, not a single Post Office counter had received the message to avoid selling the stamps,” commented Kishore Ruparelia, General Secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK. “We specifically asked them why they had delayed sending the message but there was no reply from them.”

After the outrage expressed by community leaders at the meeting on 7th November, Royal Mail finally issued instructions to all Post Office branches on 8th November asking them to not sell the 68p Christmas stamps unless a customer specifically requested it.

The message to Post Office branches said, “Royal Mail has .. asked that the 68 pence Christmas stamp only be offered when specifically requested by a customer. The standard default issue for 68 pence stamps should be the definitive stamp or any other 68 pence special stamp you have in stock. Please note – no further stocks of this stamp will be issued to branches.”

“Royal Mail informed us that they would not do a reprint of the 68p Christmas stamp,” explained C B Patel, Chair of the Hindu Forum of Britain’s Patrons Council. “We asked Royal Mail if they had actually intended to reprint any of the other five Christmas stamps. We have not yet heard back from them.”

Community leaders in the UK have now requested Hindus in the country not to buy the 68p Christmas stamp over the counter.

“We welcome Royal Mail’s assertion that they will consult us for any future use of Hindu icons,” said Ramesh Kallidai, secretary general of the Hindu Forum of Britain. “They have said Royal Mail will review its procedures to ensure that future images are appropriately screened to avoid unintentional offence to any community in the UK.”

ABOUT THE HINDU FORUM OF BRITAIN

The Hindu Forum of Britain is the representative umbrella body for British Hindus with formal membership of over 260 Hindu organisations from different regions and cultural backgrounds in Britain. The Hindu Forum of Britain has conducted some of the largest community consultation activities on behalf of the Hindu community to influence Government policy and runs a number of projects for Hindu youth, women and temples.

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