Titan-owned jewellery brand Tanishq has withdrawn its ad campaign after being trolled by Twitter users. The ad campaign called "Ekatvam" (Oneness) was taken down after it was attacked for glorifying 'love jihad'.
The 45-second clip features a Muslim family celebrating a traditional South Indian baby shower of their pregnant daughter. The advertisement was accused of 'love jihad', a term referring to an alleged venture by Muslims to convert Hindu girls in the name of love.
The ad campaign received heavy backlash from various accounts on Twitter with the hashtag #BoycottTanishq. Several claimed that it hurt the sentiments of a religious community and claimed it promoted fake secular ideas.
A part of Twitter came in support of the ad and said it promoted the beauty of inter-faith marriages. Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also condemned the vicious attack on the campaign. In a tweet, he said, "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?
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
"The boycott of Tanishq is necessary in the same way as the Surf Excel," says Supreme Court Advocate Prashant Patel Umrao.<\p>
तनिष्क का बहिष्कार उसी प्रकार आवश्यक है जैसे सर्फ एक्सल का किया था।
— Prashant Patel Umrao (@ippatel) October 12, 2020
चाहे कोई भी हो, जो हमारे साथ छल करेगा उसे विरोध सहन पड़ेगा।#BoycottTanishq
VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal said, "Some people are not getting rid of the petty antics of business due to constant disputes."<\p>
कुछ लोग लगातार विवादों से व्यापार की ओछी हरकतों से बाज नहीं आ रहे हैं। इनको पता है कि यदि मुस्लिम लड़की ने प्यार किया तो राहुल कंडेला व अंकित सक्सेना होगा। किन्तु हिन्दू लड़की को फंसाया तो कोई बात नहीं! #StopLoveJihad #BoycottTanishq
— विनोद बंसल (@vinod_bansal) October 12, 2020
Novelist Chetan Bhagat tweeted, "I wonder what Mahatma Gandhi would have said about #Tanishq ad?"<\p>
I wonder what Mahatma Gandhi would have said about #Tanishq ad?
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) October 13, 2020
A man who we call father of the nation, a man who we think is so important we print him on every currency note to remind ourselves of him, a man who helped create India.
I wonder why we don't listen to him anymore?
"As Hindus we need to be absolutely conscious of what these creative terrorists are injecting in to our subconscious, we must scrutinise, debate and evaluate what is the outcome of any perception that is fed to us, this is the only way to save our civilisation," tweeted Kangana Ranaut.<\p>
As Hindus we need to be absolutely conscious of what these creative terrorists are injecting in to our subconscious, we must scrutinise, debate and evaluate what is the outcome of any perception that is fed to us, this is the only way to save our civilisation #tanishq
— Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) October 13, 2020
Author Nilanjana Roy tweeted, "The Tatas and #Tanishq have been viciously targetted because their campaign is about values like interfaith harmony, oneness, dismantling prejudices."<\p>
+ The Tatas and #Tanishq have been viciously targetted because their campaign is about values like interfaith harmony, oneness, dismantling prejudices.
— Nilanjana Roy (@nilanjanaroy) October 13, 2020
The RW can't stomach any ads that treat Hindu-Muslim relationships as normal, or question the poisonous myth of love jihad.
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