After the recent controversy surrounding Fabindia's 'Jashn-e-Riwaaz' ad, a BJP MP, Anantkumar Hegde, has sent an open letter to the MD and CEO of tyre company Ceat Ltd Anant Vardhan Goenka objecting to an advertisement featuring actor Aamir Khan.
Hegde asked the company to address the problems faced by people on roads by “Namaz and other festive days by Muslims.” Hegde claimed that the advertisement created “unrest among the Hindus.”
In the letter, Hegde wrote, “Your company's recent advertisement in which Aamir Khan advising people not to fire crackers on the streets is giving a very good message. Your concern to public issues needs applause. In this regard, I request you to address one more problem faced by people on roads, i.e., blocking roads in the name of Namaz on Fridays and other important festive days by Muslims.”
The BJP MP said that “loud noise is emitted from mics arranged on the top of mosques in our country when Azan is given,” adding, “That sound is beyond the permissible limits. On Fridays, it is prolonged for some more time."
The letter read, "It is causing great inconvenience to people suffering from different ailments and taking rest, people working in different establishments and teachers teaching in classrooms. Actually, this list of sufferers is very long and only a few are mentioned here.”
Hegde added, “As you are very keen and sensitive towards the problems faced by the general public and you also belong to the Hindu community, I am sure you can feel the discrimination done to the Hindus since centuries.”
He further claimed that “Anti-Hindu actors always hurt the Hindu sentiments” but don’t try expose the “wrong doings of their community.” "Therefore, I kindly request you to take cognisance of this particular incident where your company's advertisement has created an unrest among the Hindus," Hegde wrote.
The advertisement in question features Aamir Khan asking people not to burst crackers on the road after India wins a cricket match so as to disrupt drivers.
Recently, Fabindia took down an advertisement about their ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’ collection after senior BJP leaders accused the brand of ‘defacing Diwali’ by linking it to an Urdu term. Fabindia told NDTV that 'Jashn-e-Riwaaz means "celebrations of rituals/festive celebrations" and has no connection to Diwali.
While #BoycottFabIndia began to trend on Twitter, some netizens came out in favour of Fabindia, claiming that the call for a boycott is "beyond ridiculous".
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