NLSIU student sues Hindustan Pencils for “racist” crayon

Chirayu Jain, a student of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore has filed a complaint against Hindustan Pencils at a consumer court, accusing the company of racism for producing a skin tone crayon, reports The Hindu.

Jain found the “skin” coloured crayon to be racially offensive as it is a shade of pink or peach, representative of white skin alone. Jain in his complaint to the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (Bangalore Urban) said, “On opening the box, I discovered that the ‘special skin crayon’ was of a shade that did not match my own skin colour. This can only be explained by the fact that the ‘special skin crayon’ which is part of the product is either defective or labelled misleadingly or both.”

Jain demanded compensation of Rs. 1 lakh for hurting his sentiments and he also sought a payment of Rs. 9 lakh to the Consumer Welfare Fund. Further he also demanded that the company “refrain from projecting such racist ideas” through its products.

Jain termed the act of the company as “extremely insensitive and inconsiderate”. Jain adds that he tried to seek an explanation from the company before filing the complaint and it received a “substandard” response. The company executive told him that “the label, skin, has been used for a long time and cannot be changed now.”

Image Courtesy: NLSIU website