After the controversies surrounding brands like Fab India and Tanishq for allegedly invoking Anti-Hindu sentiments recently surfaced, an advertisement of CEAT Tyres featuring actor Aamir Khan, has made news on Thursday.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Parliament Member Anantkumar Hegde, has written an open letter to the organisation, stating that the advertisement evokes Anti-Hindu sentiments.
In the ad, Khan is seen telling people not to burst crackers on the road after winning a cricket match as it causes disruption to the drivers.
Hegde in his long open letter wrote to Anant Vardhan Goenka, the CEO of CEAT Tyres, Hegde wrote “Environmentalist, animal lover Aamir Khan has requested not to fire firecrackers to Hindus on Diwali festival. I appreciate his concern for environment and animals!”.
He however called Khan an Anti-Hindu actors for hurting religious sentiments and said that the ad created “unrest among Hindus”.
“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 does to the Hindus since centuries. Nowadays, a group of Anti-Hindu actors always hurt the Hindu sentiments whereas they never try to expose the wrong doings of their community,” the statement read.
Hegde further wrote, “I kindly request you to take cognisance of this particular incident where your company’s advertisement has created an unrest among the Hindus. I hope in future your organisation will respect the Hindu sentiment and will not hurt it directly or indirectly by any means.”
Hegde said that members of the Muslim community allegedly blocked roads while performing Namaz, their holy prayer.
“It is a very common scene in many Indian cities where Muslims block busy roads and perform Namaz. At that time, vehicles like ambulances and firefighter vehicles are also stuck in traffic causing grave losses,” the statement read.
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“Every day, loud noise is emitted from the mikes arranged on the top of mosques in our country when Azan is given. That sound is beyond the permissible limits. On Fridays, it is prolonged for some more time. 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,” the statement further read.
On Friday, #ShameOnYouCeatTyres was trending on Twitter.
This move by the BJP MP has faced criticism over social media by several people.
Author Saba Naqvi wrote, “I think Anant Kumar Hegde is competing with Tejashvi Surya within BJP Karnataka to see who can be more pathetically absurd at being offended. Ad featuring Aamir Khan has created unrest among Hindus, says BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde – India News.”
“We have officially kicked off election season, folks. The price of the fuel the people pour on communal fires is the only thing that hasn’t gone up – cos it is state subsidised,” wrote journalist Prem Panicker.
Recently, clothing brand Fab India had to take down its advertisement for its new festive line-up after facing backlashes from right-wing groups and social media trolling as it named the line-up “Jashn-e-Riwaaz”. Though the company clarified that it is not a Diwali collection, which will be soon launched under “Jhilmil si Diwali”, the brand was accused of “defacing” the Hindu festival of Diwali by naming it so.
Back in October 2020, jewellery brand Tanishq had pulled down an advertisement that featured a Hindu woman and her Muslim mother-in-law for promoting its new collection called “Ekatvam” which means ‘oneness’. The advertisement had also faced major backlash on social media which included several BJP leaders and supporters with #BoycottTanishq trending on Twitter.