New Delhi: Now, Fabindia on Monday criticized the clothing brand’s ad campaign with BJP leader Tejashwi Surya referring to Diwali as ‘Jashn-e-Riyaz’, saying it was a “deliberate misadventure”.
Sharing his displeasure over the Fabindia campaign, Surya said that Fabindia “will have to face the economic cost for such a deliberate misadventure.” Diwali is not Jashn-e-Riyaz. This deliberate attempt at Abrahamization of Hindu festivals, depicting the model without traditional Hindu attire, should be called out,” BJP Yuva Morcha national president Surya, the leader posted on Twitter.
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Earlier this month on October 9, the company promoted its campaign by sharing pictures of some male and female models in sarees and kurta pyjamas. The accompanying tweet read, “As we welcome the festival of love and light, Fabindia’s Jashn-e-Riyaz is a collection that beautifully pays tribute to Indian culture.”
However, the original tweet is no longer available and has been removed by the company. The clothing brand faced backlash from some sections of social media, which described the promotion as “culturally inappropriate”. Some tweeted that a simple ‘Diwali’ or ‘Deepavali’ in the description would have been enough for propaganda, others said that there is no need to recreate the Hindu festival and promote secularism in it.
In fact, Manipal Global Education President Mohandas Pai also slammed the brand for its choice of words. “The use of foreign words for a Hindu festival is a deliberate attempt to snatch our heritage and destroy it! You can use any brand name after Diwali, but associating it with Diwali at this time shows a distorted mindset!” he tweeted.
Quoting Surya’s tweet, Pai wrote: “Yes absolutely true, @FabindiaNews is doing this intentionally and consumers should protest this abuse like they did to others.”
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