Amazon replies to ‘East India Company 2.0′ remark, uses ‘Make in India’ rebuttal

A day after the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-linked weekly termed Amazon Inc as “East India Company 2.0”, the e-commerce giant issued a statement on Monday highlighting how Indian small businesses have expanded in exports by selling crores of ‘Made in India’ products to customers across the world. The statement comes in response to an article “East India Company 2.0” in Panchajanya magazine, which accused the leading e-commerce company of conducting activities similar to ‘whatever the East India Company did in the 18th century’. Hitesh Shankar of the Panchajanya posted a cover of the weekly’s latest edition on Twitter with a picture of Jeff Bezos, titled “East India Company 2.0”. After receiving criticism for the same, Shankar went on to defend the poster as “factual” in a video message.