In a group of a few influential people with the same ideology or say mindset, the chances of clashes, the chances of friction are less. That has been the case of our country for the last “70 years”. For the first time, a party of a “Right Wing” ideology has come into power and with a majority. Now for obvious reasons, there is friction developing among the countrymen, which is a good thing. Friction leads to debate, it leads to discussion, and a healthy conversation starts to take place which in turn helps the nation to develop.
As #BoycottTanishq started trending and gave fumes to the anger of one particular community, the brand had to kneel and pull down the advertisement. The whole incident makes three things very clear a) “Community A” is now not ready to accept anything that is being served to them for ages. b) They understand the hidden agenda behind advertisements, films, and in general everything and c) that now they even have the power and support to make a brand like Tanishq apologize.
The issue in concern “Love Jihad”, I cannot stress enough, is a serious problem, and it needs firm intervention by society. It has destroyed the lives of many girls and made many families suffer. There are various documentaries, books, and researches that are evident in this fact. One of the significant work has been done by the film-maker Sudipto Sen.
There is definitely money involved in these jihads. The radical people of “Community B” force a woman to convert after so-called “love-marriage” and uses her for the game of population. Kerala and West Bengal are testimony to these facts.
But now the important question is, was the new ad by Tanishq in any way promoting “Love Jihad” and if it was, shouldn’t it have been countered with facts instead of brainlessly lynching the brand on the internet?
In the era of the internet, where any information is just one click away, shouldn’t the conversation regarding something so grave as Love Jihad be talked about with facts and valid information?
In the race of defaming an advertisement, people today lost a great opportunity to start a conversation about a serious problem that is being faced by many innocent girls. The anger, of course, was not on the ad but a genuine issue. But when we link two separate issues as one, the topic which needs immediate action loses focus, and that’s what has happened with the whole debate of Tanishq and Love Jihad.
The conversation or the debate was not supposed to be about “Community A” and "Community B” it was supposed to be about how some radical people are taking advantage of innocent girls and how an ad is misleading those girls to believe that the world is a safe, happy place where love is indeed just love.
The ad should have been countered with a split-screen where one shows the ideal situation, and the other shows the ground reality. When there was the nation-wide protest against Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat, I came across a very thoughtful way of protesting proposed by late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He said the best way to counter any film, any book, or any poem is to go ahead and make a better one. The same thought could have served a better understanding of the issue of Love Jihad.
With the kind anger and with the “style” of anger today, we lost two things. One: An opportunity to start a healthy discussion on a serious topic. Two: We allowed those extremists and people with hidden propaganda to backlash the genuine anger.
Today, the public is aware and is ready to debate from both sides which is indeed a good thing for our country. But it is time that we improve our expression of dissent to start a discussion, a conversation, a debate for a better tomorrow.
(The views expressed are completely personal. The platform is open for debate. You can reach me at soumya.tare22@gmail.com)
