Rising Intolerance

“At Tanishq, jewelry is not a product, but rather, a manifestation of artistry and this is why we are a brand that has the distinct honour of being coveted by Indian women. As India’s leading wedding jeweler, we understand the varied needs of every regional bride and that has stood as our inspiration behind creating special wedding collections catering to every community across India. With Mia by Tanishq, we found our way into the wardrobes of working-women who are looking for contemporary designs and office-friendly jewelry. With fabulously ornate creations in gold, diamonds, Kundan, Polki, and precious stones, Tanishq is never short of a piece of beauty and glory that can complement the Indian woman.”

The above excerpt has been derived from the “about us” column of the main website of Tanishq. It is well-written and if you read it again carefully you will find a clear indication of their target audience from the last many decades. Which is of course “Indian women” irrespective of their caste, color, and religion. Their target audience has always remained the same and they have always tried to connect to them emotionally through their advertisements on Indian Television.

The recent controversial and highly sensational reaction over an advertisement forced me to rethink our ideologies and express my personal opinion. I read a few articles, online posts, and attempted to gain meaning and understand the reactions of so many individuals in an aligned way. But what I found astonishing was the immediate herd of opinions by people without knowing the exact context and objectives of the recent advertisement by Tanishq.

Recently, we all have been reading terms or listening to terms like “Love Jihad”, “Sharia.” and Talaq. We have also noticed immediate tweet posts with #boycott Tanishq and “love Jihad” “do not support Jihad” and whatnot since the release of the advertisement. But let me correct, we are not reading and grasping the meaning of the terms. Neither we are understanding the clarity or the goals behind an advertisement. How many of us know the meaning of Jihad irrespective of our religion? If your answer is yes, then ask yourself whether it is correct or hope so it is not one-sided. Firstly, for the convenience of all, here is the meaning of Jihad.

According to Islamic law, the Arabic term jihad means a “struggle” or “striving.” This term appears in the Quran in different contexts and can include various forms of nonviolent struggles: for instance, the struggle to become a better person. This falls under the category of “jihad of the self,” an important subject in Islamic devotional works. In the specific context of Islamic law, however, jihad generally signifies an armed struggle against outsiders. In my opinion, some of us with all due respect are looking towards the one-sided meaning of Jihad and blatantly supporting it over social media. It also shows the growing intolerance among all of us. If the meaning of jihad is related to the armed rights it is also related to the self and becoming a better person. We are in fact, becoming biased and blind. I strongly think that an advertisement or movie can present a fictional world or a new idea, a vision. There is no harm or damage to doing such a thing. Now coming to the recent advertisement released by Tanishq which was revoked recently after its release on-air on October 9th. It reminded me of the same controversial scenario when Padmavat was released in theatres. The modulation of the history of an idea to present something novel is not a crime in my opinion.

Secondly, according to my thought process, the Tanishq advertisement was nothing but a beautiful display of intra culturally rich diversity of India and it touched the still so taboo topics of our Indian society such as inter-caste marriage, inter-state marriage, marrying a pregnant daughter in law, intermingling of different women and acceptance of different tradition with love and care. My rational understanding failed to grasp the “violence of rights” in every way in this advertisement. The last line which says that “Beti ke Mann ko Khush Rakhne ki Rasm” actually went straight to my heart. For me and I hope for some of us it was just an ad which targeted all the beautiful Indian women and clearly stated its objective and goal in one line “Ekatvam the beauty of oneness”. For so many decades, Tanishq has attempted to connect to the audience emotionally with emotive messages. The unfavorable reaction of the majority of individuals points out the lost sense of freedom in expressing opinions in movies or advertisements.

Lastly, I suppose that movies and advertisement are supposed to echo new ideas to develop an ideology which does not exist, a favorable utopian world which should become real or portray reality in their creative way. But we are denying reality as well as the cultural tolerance as stated by Sameena Dalwai in her article “I am the unborn baby” in that ad where she also stated that “The trolls are not only anti-Muslim but also anti-women”. A sense of freedom to opine something different or even visualize a novel idea should be freely given to our directors, advertisers instead of rigidly proving our point. In suggestion, I feel that formation of a separate committee consisting of board members from different industries should be formed for immediate discussions of topics like these and some more specific guidelines to publish over social media websites keeping in mind the “Unity in diversity” motto should be provided in the form of general notice. A strong digital platform should be built by the government where representatives can discuss without any foul play and deteriorating comments towards each other or to a specific religion. The world is watching us and so as our future generation. Be careful of what you share, think, and speak and of course please let’s just not take it personally. I quote personally in my own words.

“Freedom of speech and the true power of speech comes with responsibility.”

Disclaimer – The opinions in the above write-up are personal to the author and few references have been taken from the online articles.

Written and Published by- Miss Phalguni Malpani

References-

1. https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/tanishq-hindu-muslim-ad-boycotted/
2. https://theconversation.com/so-what-really-is-jihad-118660