Tanishq withdraws advertisement, accused of glorifying "Love Jihad"

Mangalore Today News Network

Delhi, Oct 13, 2020: Popular jewelry brand Tanishq, from the house of TATA, withdrew an advertisement for its latest collection Ekatvam after the clip triggered immense outrage on social media for glorifying "Love Jihad."

The advertisement, released last week, showed a Hindu girl as a daughter-in-law in a Muslim household.

Critics believed the story whitewashed the violence Hindu women are allegedly subjected to due to inter-faith relationships.

Ahead of the festive season, Tanishq banked on India’s plurality for its Ekatvam, meaning oneness, collection. In the ad, a pregnant daughter-in-law was seen being escorted by her Muslim mother-in-law to an opulent baby shower ceremony.

Toward the end of the clip, the former reminded that these rituals aren’t followed at her in-laws.

Some cited news reports where a Hindu girl was assaulted or, in worse situations, killed for not reciprocating a Muslim man’s advances.

They also claimed the term secularism is abused to target Hindus, and Tanishq just joined the bandwagon.

Among those who slammed the popular brand was BJP’s Khemchand Sharma.

He tweeted, "Why are you showing a Hindu "daughter in law" to a muslim family and glorifying it? Why dont you show a Muslim daughter in law in your ads with a Hindu family? (sic)"

M Nageswara Rao, the former CBI additional director, asked if TATA Boss Ratan Tata condones these views.

The advertisement, still available on social media, drew deep lines with some supporting Tanishq for a beautiful message.

Congress’ Shashi Tharoor asked "Hindutva bigots," "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? (sic)"

Abhishek Manu Singhvi said those opposing the advertisement aren’t used to seeing daughters-in-law happy around mothers-in-law.

After the news of the advertisement not being available on Tanishq’s YouTube surfaced, some rejoiced and some opined the brand shouldn’t have given in.

"It’s sad that Tanishq bowed down to a few trolls and bigots. For me, it’s one the best ads of 2020," Bang In The Middle’s co-founder Naresh Gupta told LiveMint.

At the time of publishing, Tanishq hadn’t released a statement.


courtesy: Yahoo