THE TANISHQ JEWELLER’S ADVERTISEMENT CONTROVERSY- AN INCH TO RELIGIOUS INTRUSIONS?

Are you a citizen of Secular India or a puppet of religion? Does ‘oneness’ is superior or religion is? Why secularism is misused so much? Why do you think that secularism and Islam are not compatible?

Recently an advertisement aroused an uproar in the commercial market and various online platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. when Tanishq jewelers launched an advertisement showing a bond between a Muslim mother-in-law and her Hindu pregnant daughter-in-law. In this ad, the theme is related to promoting and understanding inter-religious faith by holding a ceremony of a baby shower which is Hindu faith practice and not celebrated by Muslims.

Why this issue became so tensed that the company has to take down the advertisement for the safety of its employees and staff? Is it right, that on one hand we want unity and equality for all religions and on the other hand, people's sentiments get hurt when unity is portrayed in some way?

 As, one set of the viewers of the advertisement claimed that when a female Hindu is shown married in a Muslim family, in a way, it is promoting Love Jihad and even they opined that it is also promoting Anti-Hindu. Also, they demanded boycotting the product. But there also other viewers who welcomed it and expressed it as a way of promoting unity between Hindu-Muslim.

The Constitutional Perspective-

Why only Hindu daughter is in law everywhere and why not a Muslim daughter? This way of glorifying Hindu daughter and Muslim mother-in-law justified? Is this advertisement is associated with unity and secularism? Is this a way to unite two different religions and promoting peace and harmony or does it deserves to be boycotted? Is there any relation to this advertisement with love jihad?

Secularism is not specifically saying out that religion has no say in public life but also, it should not be the privileged say. No one would be in favor of divisive polity in India. Why challenge secularism when it promoted the endless relativism?

We should explain to our youth that secularism is something that is not against them but is a protective shield. The people are not excluded and their faith in something is entirely a different gamut. Further, religious sentiments always point out the irony and contradictions to challenge secularism.

Secularism means promoting or playing a part in the matter of religion by being impartial. With the 42^nd amendment secular word was added in the Preamble of India. The main aim of making India a secular state is to promote harmony and peace between the Hindu Majority population with the other minority religion i.e., Muslim, Christianity, Jainism, Sikh, Parsi, etc.

However, the current affair of the issue shows that the spirit of the Constitution of India is lost between the hatred of two religious beliefs i.e., Hindu and Muslim. The hatred between them is nothing new to the people of India. There are so many reasons behind its boiling effect between both. Sometimes it is also attached to the sentiments and also to the belief of belonging to the most powerful practicing religion in the world which also brings supremacy in oneself among the rest of religion. 

This supremacy of one religion over the other has created a lot of problems in the life of the common man. Also, these issues are so sensitive that they even fall trap to the politics, and hence for securing the safety of their community well-being by one political leader, they become a source of the voting bank. Hence, the essence of India being a secular state becomes meaningless.

We should keep this in mind that ‘oneness’ is the key element of humanity and if brands are depicting the secular nature of the country, there is no harm to it. Religion is purely based on the faith of people and it should be noted that religion and unity are two different concepts.

The history of the Hindu and Muslim relationship

There are so many instances from our history concerning the maintenance of harmony and peace between one sect of rulers and other the Hindu King used to marry their daughter to Muslim King. One such example is the marriage the ceremony which took place between the Mughal ruler Akbar and the Rajput Princess Jodha Bai. This ceremony took place between two different religious belief was for a political reason and ensuring that the state of the Rajput ruler does not face the aggression of Mughal.

There is also another such kind of ceremony that happened between the Rajput Princess Indira Kanwar to Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar. But these examples show that the matrimonial ceremonies between two religions were welcomed with no amount of threat to the life of those who are facing it in modern India if they are found to have any such relation outside their religious beliefs.

Special Marriage Act, 1954

The Special Marriage Act provides a provision for solemnizing marriage between an adult man who is of 21 years old or above and an adult woman who has acquired the age of 18 years old or above who happens to be a citizen of India belonging from any religion or caste. By registering a marriage under this act no one can question the legality of the marriage or question the relationship. Also, the life partner who practices other religions does not have to convert or give up their belief or faith or change their first name to get married.

But even after this act provides an opportunity to an individual who belongs to other religions to conduct ceremony among different religion it has failed somehow to solve its purpose. As there are still so many incidents that took place in India where a Hindu boy was murdered because the girl's family who is Muslim found out about her affair. This incident happened in Delhi. Also, there is a common belief that there is acceptance of relationship in the society for a Hindu woman marrying a Muslim man but there is still a stigma behind the relationship of a Hindu man and a Muslim woman. 

Why this baseless reaction to the creative expression? Is there any harm if the brands are demonstrating the secular fabric of our country? Why pulling the ad was the only solution?

The advertisement showed a ceremony where a woman is Hindu and is married in a Muslim family which took a toll over the Tanishq Jeweller’s because they accused the company of promoting Love Jihad and some of the tweets are as follows:

All these tweets showed a major backlash from the audience. 

A crucial question in this regard needs to be answered that if this advertisement irks the public so much then why the longest surviving Hindu-Muslim unity symbol has not been boycotted yet?

What is Love Jihad?

The notion of Love Jihad is based on Nikah-e-Mutah and Sabah which is also a teaching of the Koran. It is a practice where a Muslim man is asked to have a relationship with a woman who belongs to other religions by faking their love for them. The woman who is in love with the man is allured to change her religion to Islam. Nikah-e-Mutah means a marriage that is conducted for enjoyment and as per their belief, they can have four wives.

It is also considered as the medium of increasing their total population by making their minority status into majority status because when a Muslim man who believes in Love Jihad marries any female who belongs to other religion they somehow get a ticket to sexually exploit her and have as many as kids they can. In this way, they think they are helping their Allah in increasing their population.

Related to this there was an incident which took place in Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh where a man has hidden his religion to get married to a Hindu female and out of his wedlock they have a child. In this case, the man revealed his religion after they had a child and asked his wife to convert to Islam but she refused to do so, and upon her refusal, he chopped off his wife's head and killed the child also. Such kind of incidents is not new in India.

However, based on this notion the Supreme Court has acted smartly in a case where a Muslim man has converted into a Hindu and changed his name so that he can marry a Hindu woman but for the safety of the woman her parents moved the court as they doubted his intention. So, the court while deciding the matter asked the man to file an affidavit by showing his true and good intention because they want to secure the woman’s future and are in total support of inter-religion and inter-caste marriage.

There is also another case where the Supreme Court held that a child who is born out of wedlock taken place between a Hindu female and Muslim male, such a child has a right to inherit the property of their father. This decision came from the case of Mohammad Salim vs. Shamsudeen. Also, this case declared that the marriage between a Hindu and Muslim is a valid, not void marriage i.e. irregular marriage. 

Other Instances-

There are many instances where advertisements faced attacks from the public. Why we have witnessed several instances of ads facing attacks for portraying Hindu-Muslim unity? Why such kinds of advertisements are subject to intense criticism?

For instance, Surf Excel’s 2019 ad, thereby portraying a Hindu girl protecting a Muslim boy from Holi revelers, had faced similar criticism. In 2018, Close Up toothpaste pulled its #FreeToLove advertisement featuring two Hindu-Muslim couples supporting each other, after a hate campaign. Further, Unilever faced calls for a boycott of Brook Bond Red Label tea after its "Shree Ganesh ApnepanKa” ad showed a Hindu man who is initially reluctant to buy an idol of Lord Ganeshafrom a Muslim idol-maker.

Well, there is no end to the debate over religion, secularism, and people's sentiments. People need to understand that they should avoid being stereotyped. It should be noted that India is a secular country and the brands can represent the same.

Conclusion

Marriage is not just a ceremony where a family accepts other families, it is also about accepting the partner for life with no kind of compulsion and pressure involved from society. The connection we make with other people is also not based on the faith they are following or from which caste they belong to and this thought only the marriage between the Hindu and the Muslim became a valid one.

The kind of disgrace Tanishq faced in a secular nation like India shows that the gap of thoughts and a major backlog in the acceptance of other religions is still a bothering subject. However, because of these gaps and lack of trust among each other incidents like murder, rape, abduction of brides, etc. is still a major issue. Hence, we cannot deny the fact the word secularism is just another meaningless word in the Preamble of India.

Written by Samridhi Srivastava

BA.LLB

Lloyd Law College, Greater Noida

Edited by Gurneet Kaur

BBA.LLB

ICFAI University, Dehradun

Disclaimer: This article is the personal opinion of the author. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any Indian Government or any other Government of the world. This article is the only opinion and does not render any personal or professional advice.