A Tanishq jewellery showroom in Gandhidham town of Gujarat's Kutch district has put up a note on its door, apologising to Hindus in the district over a TV ad by the brand. Tanishq’s advertisement titled ‘A Confluence’ had depicted an inter-faith marriage. It had showed a Muslim family busy in preparations for a Hindu ritual for their pregnant daughter-in-law. When the daughter-in-law points out tells her mother-in-law that these rituals are not traditional in her marital home, the latter replies that keeping a daughter happy is a tradition in all homes. The ad was withdrawn on Tuesday by Tanishq after it was trolled by right-wing groups.
The handwritten note at the store at the store is in Gujarati and has condemned the TV commercial. "We apologise to Hindu community of Kutch on the shameful advertisement of Tanishq," the note read. It was pasted on the showroom's door on October 12, and has since been removed, police said.
The showroom manager and local police rubbished media reports that the showroom was attacked by some people angry with the Tanishq advertisement. "No such attack has taken place," said Mayur Patil, Superintendent of Police, Kutch-East.
The ad was subjected to hate and vitriol by right-wing groups that claimed that it was promoting ‘love-jihad’, a conspiracy theory which claims that Muslim men deliberately marry Hindu women to convert them to Islam. As a result, #BoycottTanishq had started trending on Twitter.
The jewellery brand eventually succumbed to the pressure of the trolling and pulled down the ad on Tuesday.
However, the brand received support from many too for showing diversity and tolerance, including from member of Parliament from Congress, Shashi Tharoor as well as Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi. “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?” Tharoor tweeted.
Since Tanishq took down the ad, several people have rued the culture of intolerance which has resulted in the brand caving to the pressure.
Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena leader wrote, “How intolerant as a nation have we become to not be able to even acknowledge India’s ethos of plurality and diversity? Or was it a daughter(in-law)’s happiness the reason for so much viciousness? Even more unfortunate is that Tanishq buckled under pressure.”
(With PTI inputs)