Fabindia deletes ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’ tweet following boycott threats and trolling

Netizens have accused the brand of appropriating Diwali and hurting religious sentiments.

Clothing brand Fabindia’s tweet that mentions ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’ for its new festive line has run afoul many.

Netizens have accused the brand of appropriating Diwali, the festival of lights and hurting their religious sentiments and have asked people to boycott the brand.

Prominent names such as Tejasvai Surya, a sitting Member of Parliament from the ruling BJP said “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.” on Twitter.

Many followed suit with similar messages.

Deepavali is not Jash-e-Riwaaz...Period!!!
Seems like Fab India has done this deliberately to hurt Hindu Sentiment. #BoycottFabIndia pic.twitter.com/oczgyUlmIF

— Rajkumar MLA (@rajkumarmla1) October 18, 2021

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

On the other hand, there were voices in support of the brand as well.

What does 'fault' or 'provocation' or 'red flag' even mean anymore? We've become like the brainwashed housewife who says 'he fractured my bones and broke my teeth and strangled me, but it was my fault only because I served him lukewarm tea.' #SinghuBorder #Unacademy #fabindia

— anuja chauhan (@anujachauhan) October 18, 2021

Boycott Fabindia is trending because they’ve poetically named their Diwali collection - Jashn-e-Riwaaz. This is beyond ridiculous. How does naming a collection in Urdu lessen your Diwali for you?

— shunali khullar shroff (@shunalishroff) October 18, 2021

The Indian Express carried a statement from Fabindia: “We at Fabindia have always stood for celebration of India with its myriad traditions in all hues. In fact ‘Fabindia – Celebrate India’ is our tagline and also a wordmark. 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. Please do keep a look out. It is going to be beautiful.”

Fabindia joins a long list of brands that faced calls for a boycott since last year. Some of them being Tanishq, Zomato, Manyavar, Bingo Chips, Pharmeasy.