India’s Tanishq Jewellery ad celebrating Hindu-Muslim love faces outrage

Jewellery brand Tanishq by Titan has been slammed by Twitterati for withdrawing the advertisement for a jewellery range which showed an inter-faith marriage.

On Monday, Tanishq was facing BoycottTanishq calls on social media after it released the ad showing a Hindu-Muslim couple. #BoycottTanishq was top trending on #Twitter. More than 19,000 people tweeted calling for a ban on the advertisement and the jewellery brand.

On Tuesday, Tanishq and the Tata group were being slammed for cowering to social media pressure and withdrawing the ad. Some twitterati had linked the Tanishq ad to love jihad.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, “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?”.

While launching the Ekatvam range, Titan had highlighted the theme of Oneness. “Each jewel from #EkatvamByTanishq, is meticulously crafted using art forms from across the country. Over 1,000 Karigars have spent countless hours creating these jewels that are a captivating ode to the beauty of oneness.”.

Former BJP ideologue Sudheendra Kulkarni said, “#Tanishq retreat is a victory for intolerance. Each such victory will make them more intolerant. We must safeguard India’s pluralism”.

Raj Nayak, media maven said, “This is really sad! How can a brand as strong as Tanishq from the House of Tata’s chicken out based on trolls? In fact the trolls were helping you get more visibility for your ad.”