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ShareOwner of the controversial restaurant bows to pressure, to announce new name soon.
KHARGHAR: Five days after controversy erupted over the name of his restaurant, Puneet Sabhlok, the owner of Hitlers' Cross said that he had decided to alter the name of his eatery in view of the hurt caused to the sentiments of Jews.
Though the boards displaying the name of the restaurant were yet to be dismantled, it had been covered even as the advertisements erected on electric poles were in place.
"We have decided to change the name of the restaurant in view of the hurt caused to Jews", Sabhlok told mediapersons along with his business associate Shakir Siddiqui at a press conference here on Thursday.
"The new name would be decided in 2-3 days time. It would be a non-controversial one as I don't want to start my new business under the shadow of a controversy", he said.
Earlier in the day, the owners had a meeting with members of the Indian Jewish Federation (IJF) led by its president Jonathan Solomon.
"We expressed regret at hurting their sentiments and promised to change the name. Satisfied with our assurances, the IJF representatives have agreed to convey our regret to the consul generals of Israel and Germany and promised to visit the restaurant", Sabhlok said.
When asked to comment on media reports that he had named the restaurant after inspired by Hitler's efforts to conquer the world, Sabhlok denied it and said, "I only wanted to provide my patrons with the best culinary experience. We didn't want to promote Hitler or his ideology."
When asked what he knew about Hitler, Sabhlok said, "I know that he was a dictator and committed atrocities on Jews".
"I chose the name innocently. I didn't expected that it would snowball into a major controversy", Sabhlok said while outrightly rejecting allegation that the whole controversy was a planned publicity stunt. He refused to comment whether intolerance had increased or the controversy was unnecessarily created.
