The Tanishq episode shows that today’s secularism has become a power play

10/13/2020 India


Written by Ishita Sengupta | New Delhi |

Updated: October 13, 2020 8:45:34 pm


tanishq, tanishq secularism, tanish secularism, tanishq love jihand, tanishq love jihad controversy, indian express, indian express newsThe ad has been taken down after facing outrage from social media. (Source: Anubha Bhosle / Twitter)

A new advertisement for Tanishq opens on a celebratory note: people decorating a house with lights and flowers. The cause is revealed when a young pregnant woman is cautiously guided by a mother figure as people gather for a baby shower. It ends with the visibly grateful pregnant mother asking the latter: “yeh rasm toh aapke ghar pe hoti bhi nahin hain na? (These rituals are not observed in your home, are they?). To this, they say, “pair bitiya ko khush rakhne ki rasm toh har ghar pe hoti hai na? “(But rituals to keep daughters happy are observed in every house.) The big reveal here is not an unconventional depiction of a compassionate mother-in-law, but a compassionate Muslim mother-in-law. Within hours, the ad included a message of community harmony generated polarized opinions on social networks and the fact of falling prey to online trolling was withdrawn.

Brands that are subject to trolling on social media is not a new phenomenon. Nor are they succumbing to it with an apology or retaliating by standing firm. In this case, Tanishq stepped back and withdrew it. But when an announcement with an interfaith tune at the center sparks a debate in a country that still prides itself on being secular, it is not the fragility of the concept that comes to light, but the extent to which it has become communalized.

How #BoycottTanishq Throughout Monday, the attacks on the brand continued for two reasons: condemnation and rectification. A section of social media users called the ad because it promoted ‘Love Jihad’, a term coined to denote an alleged Muslim-led campaign to convert Hindu girls under the pretext of love. What the ad was showing at the time was considered a dangerous misrepresentation. “What #tanishq is showing – 100% safe HINDU girl in a Muslim house, What is really happening – Hindu girl caught in love jihad and dead. Hindu girls are 0% safe in other religious houses. So don’t follow this sick company mentality, ”reads one of the many ‘well-intentioned’ tweets.

Actress Kangana Ranaut also chimed in. “The concept was not as troublesome as the execution was, the fearful Hindu girl apologetically expressed her gratitude to her in-laws for their acceptance of her faith. Isn’t she the woman of the house? Why is she at his mercy? Why so meek and shy in her own home? Embarrassing, ”he tweeted. Another thread of criticism called him out for projecting false secularism and using the Hindu girl as a mortgage to fit his agenda. Why can’t the creative directors who make these stupid commercials think of a Muslim girl and a Hindu boy? Why is there a talent deficit? advertising creatives in India fear backlash from Muslims. “Politician Geetha Kothapalli tweeted.

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The subtext of these two lines of argument shares its rhetoric with ‘love jihad’, where female agency is not only undermined, but infantilized to the point of being non-existent. The image of a Hindu woman happily married in a Muslim home is so incredulous that it is considered impossible without coercion. In both cases, the girl is seen as a misrepresentation, a victim, or a pawn. His gratitude is perceived as submission, and his decision to choose a Muslim partner is wrong from the start, if not forced.

By suggesting a reverse scenario as a correction, the other argument exposes how dangerously close the country is tied to a general idea of ​​secularism that is no longer shared but applied. Kothapalli’s downside lies on the same ground as Ranaut’s latent apprehension: the portrayal of receptive and agreeable Muslim in-laws. For the Hindu girl to be a victim, her Muslim in-laws would have to be devious. And if the message is one of acceptance, the benign role should be reserved for Hindus. His argument further emphasizes how current secularism has become a power game, depending on the religion you accept and not the acceptance of all religions.

The way it is, public memory and social media storm come with an expiration date. And while an explanation from Tanishq is needed, for now the announcement is gone and the debate for or against will also dry up in a couple of days. But the real irony of the situation lies on the jewelry line’s website where, with all its inclusive message, there is a separate section for Muslim jewelry (noted on social media, later removed). One can read it as a marketing decision, a service strategy to address the different aesthetic options. But since no results yield to the search for “Hindu jewels”, one understands that “otherness” is deeper than what our eyes are trained to perceive.

In this sense, her message of community harmony is limited to her new jewelry line, Ekatvam ‘, which arrives just before the Durga Puja and Diwali festivals. It is a short 45 second performance. The severe refusal to make room even for that speaks more about the country we have come to inhabit and less about the marketing options chosen by brands.

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