MUMBAI: A renowned Indian jewellery brand has withdrawn a television advertisement after calls for a boycott for depicting an interfaith marriage.
The jewellery brand Tanishq had released an advertisement that showed a Muslim family preparing a traditional baby shower for their Hindu daughter-in-law.
The description of the video read, “She is married into a family that loves her like their own child. Only for her, they go out of their way to celebrate an occasion that they usually don’t. A beautiful confluence of two different religions, traditions, cultures.”
The ad received mixed reactions online and while one faction thought it was a beautiful example of India’s religious harmony, others criticised it on social media and said it “promoted love jihad” and made #BoycottTanishq trend online, claiming it doesn’t show the reality of interfaith marriages.
As outrage against the advertisement grew, the jewellry officially removed the video from all their platforms. “We are deeply saddened with the inadvertent stirring of emotions and withdraw this film keeping in mind the hurt sentiments and well being of our employees, partners and store staff,” Tanishq said in a statement.
The company said that the idea behind the campaign was to “celebrate the coming together of people from different walks of life, local communities and families during these challenging times. This film has stimulated divergent and severe reactions, contrary to its very objective,” the statement added.
Many reacted to the ad being pulled down calling the outrage absurd as it was not promoting hate but unity. “If Hindu-Muslim “ekatvam” irks them so much, why don’t they boycott the longest surviving symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity in the world — India?” Congress leader Shashi Tharoor wrote on Twitter.
Police in Indian state of Gujrat said that the manager of a Tanishq store in Kutch district had received threats over the withdrawn advertisement and was forced to write an apology note.
So Hindutva bigots have called for a boycott of @TanishqJewelry for highlighting Hindu-Muslim unity through this beautiful ad. If Hindu-Muslim “ekatvam” irks them so much, why don’t they boycott the longest surviving symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity in the world — India? pic.twitter.com/cV0LpWzjda
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 13, 2020
