Inter-caste marriages have been a taboo in the Indian culture. For showing an inter-caste marriage which portrayed Hindu-Muslim unity, Tanishq’s latest ad was tagged as ‘Love Jihad.’
It was pulled down after social media users of the right-wing viciously trolled it as well as the Titan Group’s (a company promoted by the Tata Group in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation) Tanishq.
The #BoycottTanishq hashtag trended all day on Monday over Twitter and therefore, the video was turned to the private mode on YouTube. The pioneer of jewellery was accused of promoting “Love Jihad” and inter-faith marriages.
The depiction of inter-caste marriage outraged the right-wing even though it was a simple sweet ad. A user questioned, “Why I see Hindu daughter-in-law everywhere….why don’t you show Muslim daughter-in-law anywhere. Just Asking.”
But what was in the “ekatvam” ad?
The advert starts with a Hindu woman who is married into a Muslim family, expecting her first child. Her mother-in-law escorts her to the garden for a ceremony. The ceremony has been organised according to Hindu rituals, which surprises the soon to be a mother. She asks her mother-in-law about it, saying, “Par yeh rasam toh aapke ghar mein nahi hoti hai na?,” and the mother in law reverts, “Bitiya ko khush karne ki rasam toh har ghar mein hoti hai an?”
Although the ad is unavailable on YouTube, you can watch here:
The Tanishq 'Love Jihad' ad that has now been taken down. Disgusting! pic.twitter.com/QuS1XBTVIO
— Sensei Kraken Zero (@YearOfTheKraken) October 12, 2020
Congress member Shashi Tharoor also slammed the trolls, calling them ‘bigots.’
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
While some questioned why in the Hindu-Muslim unity ads, the groom is always Muslim and the bride is Hindu.
https://twitter.com/pragyavaidya03/status/1315812185465995264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1315812185465995264%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ndtv.com%2Findia-news%2Fafter-boycotttanishq-trend-shashi-tharoor-asks-why-dont-they-boycott-india-2309248
Some took on the trend to support Tanishq criticising the Right Wing trolls.
People are trending #BoycottTanishq as if they buy jewelry from them on daily basis.
— Sandeep Singh (@sandeep90s) October 12, 2020
