Similarly in 2018, Close Up toothpaste pulled their #FreeToLove ad featuring Hindu Muslim couples after it was subjected to a vicious online hate campaign.Ĭhopra pointed out that this was a relatively new development, and while Indian advertising predominantly featured upper caste Hindu families, it also has a history of being “very secular and inclusive” and had often depicted Hindu-Muslim unity. Last year, an advert for a jewellery company, Tanishq, that depicted a Hindu woman married into a Muslim family had to be removed after it led to its shops being attacked, thecompany being viciously trolled online and calls for it to be boycotted.
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Since the BJP, a Hindu nationalist party, came to power in 2014 led by prime minister Narendra Modi, such accusations of insensitivity to Hinduism have been levelled more and more at films, television series and now advertising, as popular culture and media are viewed increasingly through a prism of religion in India. The company Darbur India Limited issued a public apology and removed the advert on Monday evening. The hashtag #BoycottFem then began trending on Twitter, with the company accused of offending religious sentiments. “This is all about teaching Muslims, especially prominent Muslims, a lesson: that even the biggest names in Bollywood are not protected from the Modi government,” said Chopra.Īlso this week, an advert depicting a lesbian couple celebrating the Hindu festival of Karwa Chauth was pulled on Monday after a BJP Minister Narottam Mishra called it “objectionable content” and threatened legal action. Photograph: Sujit Jaiswal/AFP/Getty Imagesįor Chopra, there were parallels between the “sectarian targeting” of an advert starring Khan, a prominent Muslim actor who in the past has condemned the rising religious intolerance in India, to the ongoing saga involving the son of another major Muslim Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, who was recently arrested on drugs charges and denied bail, in a case where the credibility of the case has been questioned and that many have condemned as politically motivated. The advert featured Khan, who is a Muslim, advising people not to burn polluting firecrackers during Diwali.Īccording to Hedge’s complaint letter, aside from insensitivity to Hinduism, the real problem the advert should have tackled was the “nuisance” caused by blocking of the roads during Muslim Friday prayers and “other important festive days by Muslims” and the “great inconvenience” caused by mosques broadcasting the call the prayer.Īamir Khan, a prominent Muslim Bollywood actor who has condemned religious intolerance in India and who has also been accused of upsetting Hindus. On Friday, an advert by a tyre company featuring one of Bollywood’s biggest actors, Aamir Khan, was accused by BJP MP Ananthkumar Hegde of creating “an unrest among the Hindus”. It was not the only advert this week to face such accusations of religious offence against India’s Hindu majority. Our Diwali collection called ‘Jhilmil is Diwali’ is yet to be launched,” said the company spokesperson. “We at Fabindia have always stood for the celebration of India with its myriad traditions in all hues. Language does not map on to religion just as Hindi is not the exclusive property of Hinduism, Urdu is not the property of Islam.”įabindia later clarified that the collection was not its Diwali collection, which would be released later, but still chose to take the advert down. “It’s part of this BJP imperative to somehow purify Hinduism, to have this model of Hinduism which is completely divested, and bleached clean of any Islamic or Muslim influences,” said Chopra.