‘There should be economic costs for such deliberate misadventures’: Tejaswi Surya on FabIndia’s Diwali ad campaign

Team Udayavani, Oct 19, 2021, 1:05 PM IST

Taking objection to the Diwali campaign named ‘Jashn-e-Riwaj’, run by apparel brand FabIndia, BJP PM Tejaswi Surya in a tweet remarked that there should be economic costs for such “deliberate misadventures.”

“Deepavali is not Jash-e-Riwaaz. This deliberate attempt of abrahamisation of Hindu festivals, depicting models without traditional Hindu attires, must be called out. And brands like @FabindiaNews must face economic costs for such deliberate misadventures,” he wrote on Twitter.

Termed Jashn-e-Riwaz, the campaign shows male and female models clad in bright red apparel. The tweet promoting the campaign said, “As we welcome the festival of love and light, Jashn-e-Riwaaz, by FabIndia is a collection that beautifully pays homage to Indian culture…”

Author Shefali Vaidya, known for her views supporting right-wing, slammed FabIndia for ‘de-Hinduising’ festivals.

”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’!” she tweeted.

The ad campaign was trolled by netizens and #BoycottFabIndia” began trending on Twitter.

Following the furore, FabIndia deleted the tweet promoting the ad campaign.

While the brand was accused of ”defacing” the Hindu festival of Diwali by naming its festive collection as Jashn-e-Riwaaz (celebration of tradition), the company insisted that it is not a Diwali collection, which will be soon launched under ‘Jhilmil si Diwali’ promo.

”We at FabIndia have always stood for the celebration of India with its myriad traditions in all hues,” a company spokesperson said.

”Our current capsule of products under the name Jashn-e-Riwaaz is a celebration of Indian traditions. The phrase means that, literally. The capsule is not our Diwali Collection of products. Our Diwali collection is called ‘Jhilmil si Diwali’ is yet to be launched.” Jashn-e-Riwaaz is a phrase in Urdu, a language that was born in India.