Hilter, Frankenstein contest elections
2013-02-22 15:07
Gauhati - Adolf Hitler is running for election in India.
So is Frankenstein.
The tiny northeast Indian state of Meghalaya has a special
fascination for interesting and sometimes controversial names, and the ballot
for state elections on Saturday is proof.
Among the 345 contestants running for the state assembly
are Frankenstein Momin, Billykid Sangma, Field Marshal Mawphniang and Romeo Rani.
Some, like Kenedy Marak, Kennedy Cornelius Khyriem and
Jhim Carter Sangma, are clearly hoping for the electoral success of their
namesake American presidents.
Then there is Hitler.
This 54-year-old father of three has won three elections
to the state assembly with little controversy over being named after the Nazi
dictator.
His father had worked with the British army, but
apparently developed enough of a fascination with Great Britain's archenemy to
name his son Adolf Hitler - though he also gave him the middle name Lu, Hitler
said.
"I am aware at one point of time Adolf Hitler was
the most hated person on earth for the genocide of the Jews. But my father
added 'Lu' in between, naming me Adolf Lu Hitler, and that's why I am
different," Hitler told AP from the small village of Mansingre, 200km west
of Gauhati, the capital of the nearby state of Assam.
Hitler said his name has not stopped him from travelling
the world, including to the US and Germany.
"I never had problems obtaining a visa but I was
asked many times during immigration as to why I should have such a name. I told
the immigration staff I possibly didn't have a role in my naming," he
said.
India played little role in World War II, and many Indians
view Hitler not as the personification of evil but as a figure of fascination.
Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" is prominently
displayed at many Indian bookstores.
The owner of a menswear shop named his store
"Hitler," then expressed puzzlement last year after Israel
complained.
Musfika Haq, a teacher in Meghalaya's capital, Shillong,
said such names are common in the state.
"Parents obviously get fascinated by names of
well-known or great leaders, but must be unaware that some of them, like
Hitler, had been highly controversial," he said.
- SAPA
