India, Feb. 14 -- Advocate Ajay Jagga has written to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, urging the Indian government to intervene and request Russia to ban a beer brand that features Mahatma Gandhi's image. The beer, Mahatma G, brewed by Russian brewery Rewort, has caused outrage, with Jagga terming it "shocking and unacceptable." He stressed that the use of the Father of the Nation's image on an alcoholic drink is a serious insult to India's values and sentiments of more than a billion Indians.

In his letter, Jagga pointed to the irony in the manner India celebrates Gandhi versus the manner in which his legacy is being employed elsewhere. "It is an irony that we put Mahatma Gandhi on our currency and have a dry day on his birthday...