Hindu festivals have lately emerged as the favourite punching bags for teaching morality and making fun of traditions. Recently, digital platform Eros Now took to social media to put up rather strange Navratri wishes, full of innuendos and vulgarity. After receiving severe backlash, the posts were taken down Eros Now issued an apology.
As hashtag #BoycottErosNow trended on Twitter, India Today quickly jumped in to give an impression that Eros Now is receiving hate on the internet by a section of ‘trolls’ for particularly using a film still, starring Katrina Kaif in a yellow saree. In an article headlined “BoycottErosNow trends online as Twitter outrages over Navratri post starring Katrina Kaif” dated, October 22, claimed that though Eros Now had also used pictures of other actresses, Twitterati particularly targeted the OTT platform for posting Katrina Kaif’s picture.
India Today claimed that Eros Now had used the picture of various actresses including, Sonakshi Sinha, Kangana Ranaut, Deepika Padukone and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Katrina Kaif with an intention to suggest colours and fashion advice to their followers on social media for Navratri. Without being explicit and spelling it out, India Today insinuated that Eros Now was facing the heat because they chose to have Katrina Kaif, a Muslim woman, in one of the Navratri posts. It tried to imply that while there were no objections raised against any other picture, it was only Katrina’s image Eros Now tweeted which attracted the ire of the Hindus on social media.
Very cleverly, India Today shared images of Eros Now’s account of other actresses, trying to show how the images of Hindu actresses wishing for Navratri did not get the ire.
However, India Today’s shallow attempt trying to be holier than thou was far from reality. Here is what really upset the Hindus.
The social media outrage was not because the OTT platform used the picture of a Muslim actress draped in a yellow saree, but because of the sexual innuendos and vulgar text which were attached to the posts. The social media users objected to the use of images of the actress wearing skimpy outfits and to the sexually suggestive texts attached to the pictures.
India Today with its selective amnesia did not see that people had objected to two other social media posts by Eros Now too.
One of the now-deleted posts features Ranveer Singh alongside the quote, “Let’s have some majama in my pajama”.
The other image was that of Salman Khan alongside the quote, “You need a dandi to play dandiya – I have one”.
So, India Today, how come you did not see these two posts? Why should reducing the festival of praying to divine feminine to that of lust and innuendos not offend Hindus, whom you refer to as trolls? Just because Hindus do not take to streets to behead people for mocking their religion, is everything thrown at them halal?
