NEW DELHI (AP) — A popular brand India jewellery withdrew an ad that showed a muslim man and his wife, a hindu after a campaign by conservative social media.
The announcement of the popular brand indian jewelry Tanishq showed a muslim man and his wife, a hindu preparing a feast of indian-style before the birth of a baby. The motto said “A beautiful confluence of two religions, traditions and different cultures”.
But on Tuesday, just days after it issued the ad of 45 seconds, the signature retired from television and their social media platforms respond to the outrage of indian nationalists, including members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, who said that he encouraged the “jihad of love”. This term alludes to a conspiracy theory put forward by groups of radical hindus to accuse muslim men of converting to indian women through marriage.
The removal of the advertisement provoked harsh criticism from a lot of people in India, who said that the company was surrendering to conservative extremists. It also threw light on the growing religious polarization in India under the mandate of the prime minister, Narendra Modi. His party and his followers see the country as a hindu nation, and they have been accused of normalizing the feeling anti-muslim.
In a statement, the company said Tuesday that the announcement was intended to celebrate diversity, but that it had decided to withdraw it due to “severe reactions and divergent”, to protect the “well being” of the employees and partners of the firm.
The signature is part of the Tata Group, one of the biggest conglomerates of India.
Critics of Modi say that the indian tradition of diversity has been attacked since his nationalist party came to power in 2014. The party rejects the accusation.
The sense of fear, outrage, and disillusionment grows among the indian muslims of walk, they say that Modi and his party are leaving little by little, so that the community fears a future in which they are second-class citizens. This fear is based on the policies and messages of the party of Modi and some of their leaders, who have given speeches of hatred against muslims in public.
India is a country of hindu majority, while the muslims are about 14% of 1,400 million people.
