According to Euro Weekly News, there's a fairly substantial Indian population in the British territory of Gibraltar (because of course), so the government-owned Gibraltar International Bank (GIB) decided they would celebrate the Hindu holiday Diwali by having their employees wear traditional "Indian" dresses to work.
Needless to say, not everyone understood the assignment:
The posts didn't stay up long and were quickly replaced by a statement from the bank's CEO, Peter Horton:
‘[The images were] extremely disrespectful to the Hindu community in Gibraltar, for whom Diwali is a sacred and joyous occasion.
‘It does not meet the standards of professionalism, respect, and cultural awareness expected of everyone at the Bank,' he added in his statement, which anticipates an investigation to determine the causes of the misunderstanding, engaging with representatives of Gibraltar's historic Hindu community ‘to strengthen understanding, respect, and inclusion.'
The typical woke word salad!
Meanwhile, it doesn't seem like anyone was actually offended by the mistake (outside the woke types, that is).
Here are some of the typical responses:
Even the leader of the local Hindu community didn't seem to mind:
According to the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) the President of the local Hindu Community, Sunil Chandiramani said the community does not believe there was any malice involved in the incident, but that this is ‘a moment where awareness and sensitivity can be strengthened'.
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