Boycott Malabar Gold: The famous jewelery brand ‘Malabar Gold’ is currently in the midst of controversy. A video of the new ad has been posted on social media on the occasion of ‘Akshay Tritiya’ which features actress Kareena Kapoor. Right wing trolls have strongly criticized Kareena for not putting a bindi on her forehead while promoting ‘Akshay Tritiya’.
The hashtags #BoycottMalabarGold and #NoBindiNoBusiness are trending on social media. ‘Akshay Tritiya’ is a festival for Hindus and many people buy jewelery on this day. The trolls have raised the question as to why Kareena did not put it on her forehead in the advertisement of Hindu festival.
Popular BJP troll Shefali Vaidya had started a campaign called ‘No Bindi No Business’ against this. She tweeted, “So @Malabartweets wants Hindus to buy jewellery from them for a Hindu Muhurta, Akshay Tritiya, but they are not willing to respect Hindu symbols like the Bindi! #NoBindiNoBusiness Brands HAVE to understand that if they want Hindu money, they have to respect Hindu sentiments!”
Another right wing troll ganesh dhuri tweeted, “Malabar Gold & Diamonds @Malabartweets is promoting their jewellery @mataonline for the auspicious day of #AkshayaTritiya by having Kareena Kapoor Khan as a model with no bindi on her forehead. Why no bindi for Hindu festivals? So, #NoBindiNoBusiness#Boycott_MalabarGold”
Another user tweeted, “So @Malabartweets wants Hindus to buy jewellery from them for a Hindu festival, Akshay Tritiya, but they are not willing to respect Hindu symbols like the Bindi! #NoBindiNoBusiness“
Last year, advertisements for jewelery complementing Diwali were launched through newspapers and hoardings. The controversy started when the models on it did not have ‘Bindi” on their foreheads. It was said that ‘bindi’ on the forehead is a part of Hindu Dharma. Since, Diwali is also a Hindu festival and it was claimed that Hindus were being insulted as the models in the advertisements were not putting ‘bindi’ on their foreheads.
In October last year, the jewelery brand ‘Tanishq’ was also heavily criticized by same right wing trolls. The trolls had alleged that Tanishq’s advertisement promoted love-jihad. After this trolling, the brand finally had to remove the ad.