Fabindia faces wrath of netizens over its Jashn-e-Riwaaz ad campaign
What's the story
Popular ethnic wear chain Fabindia had recently launched a festive ad campaign to promote its Jashn-e-Riwaaz collection. Billed to celebrate the "festival of love and light," the title of the collection launched ahead of Diwali, a Hindu festival of lights, has irked many. Several Twitter users along with some political leaders have objected to the campaign. Here's all you need to know.
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Without naming it, the ad seems to be celebrating Diwali
Released a few weeks ago, the advertisement for the collection featured a group of youngsters traveling to Rajasthan to one of their homes. Wearing traditional Indian clothing, everyone seems to be celebrating Diwali as diyas/candles light up the whole house. While the official Twitter handle of the brand has deleted every post pertaining to the campaign now, the ad is still available on YouTube.
Reaction
The apparel company received flak for calling Diwali, Jashn-e-Riwaaz
The Islamic name of the collection did not sit right with many. Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha president Tejasvi Surya lambasted the brand by tweeting, "Deepavali is not Jashn-e-Riwaaz. This deliberate attempt of abrahamisation of Hindu festivals, depicting models without traditional Hindu attires, must be called out." Several social media users called for a boycott of the brand as well.
Twitter Post
Fabindia 'great job at de-Hinduising Deepawali!' wrote netizens
Wow @FabindiaNews great job at de-Hinduising Deepawali! Call it a ‘festival of love and light’, title the collection ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’, take Bindis off foreheads of models but expect Hindus to buy your overpriced, mass produced products in the name of ‘homage to Indian culture’! https://t.co/S47g1ArUbB
— Shefali Vaidya. 🇮🇳 (@ShefVaidya) October 18, 2021
Information
Fabindia claims to provide platform to artisans from rural areas
Chairman of Manipal Global Education Mohandas Pai also opined his view. He tweeted that the naming of the collection was "a very deliberate attempt to subvert a religious festival!" To give you a backgrounder, Fabindia Overseas Pvt. Ltd., established in 1960 as an Indian label, claims to be the "country's largest retail platform for goods produced by artisans who live largely in rural areas."
Controversies
In 2018, Fabindia was in trouble for using Khadi tag
This is not the first time the apparel brand has found itself in a ditch. Back in 2018, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) had taken on the company for calling its "ready-made cotton garments Khadi products" without getting approvals. The independent body under the Union Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium enterprises had sued the firm for Rs. 525cr for disregarding warnings.