In a shocking display of impunity, an advertisement of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appeared on the front page of Dainik Jagran, a popular Hindi newspaper, on March 7, 2022, the last day of polling for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections. This is a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) of the Election Commission of India (ECI). Therefore, CJP has written to the ECI as well as the UP State Election Commission (SEC) to bring this blatant violation to their attention, and demanded action against the same.

The complaint states that the publication of the said advertisement does not only violate the MCC issued by the ECI, but also constitutes offences as per the provisions of the Representation of People’s Act, 1951. Moreover, it also goes against the guidelines of the Press Council of India.

The complaint brings to the attention of the Commissions, how a political advertisement on a poll has the potential to alter people’s perceptions and their voting behaviour even if it is at the very last moment. It further states that inaction against the party in power, poses a threat to democracy, and brazenly mocks the conduct of free and fair electoral process.

Moreover, as per the Guidelines of the Press Council of India, the letter invokes the obligation of the press to scrupulously avoid publishing political advertisements, especially those designed to further the prospects of the party in power, during the election period.

For a better understanding of the gravity and implications of the said publication, it even compares the impact of a front-page political ad in print media on the day of polling to that of publication of exit poll results before the end of all phases of the election.

Therefore, considering the dangers of paid news, CJP wrote a letter to both Commissions on March, 10, 2022, asking them to call out such corrupt and electoral malpractice and requesting them to take strict action against the BJP.

The complaint may be read here: 

Related:

UP Elections: CJP moves ECI over alleged bogus voting, booth disturbances | CJP
UP Assembly Elections: CJP moves ECI over poll code violations for the third time | CJP

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Dabur India, the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company, has quickly dropped its season special advertisement for Fem Crème Bleach, that promises to lighten dark skin to acceptable standards of beauty. However it has not dropped the advertisement and apologised for the racist overtines, nor has it apologised to the LGBTQI community for using a lesbian love storyline to sell a bleaching product on a festival considered by many as patriarchal.

Instead it has withdrawn the advertisement that debuted on October 23, a day before the Karva Chauth festival. After it was trolled on all social media handles, Dabur has said, “We unconditionally apologise for unintentionally hurting people’s sentiments.”

Fem’s Karwachauth campaign has been withdrawn from all social media handles and we unconditionally apologise for unintentionally hurting people’s sentiments. pic.twitter.com/hDEfbvkm45

— Dabur India Ltd (@DaburIndia) October 25, 2021

Hell hath no fury than a minister angered

Dabur it seems was forced to withdraw the advertisement featuring a lesbian couple celebrating the Karwa Chauth after they were criticised by Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra who called it “objectionable content” and threatened legal steps if it advertisement was not withdrawn. Mishra told the media that, “Today, they are showing two women celebrating Karva Chauth. Tomorrow, they will come up with an advertisement that shows two men getting married. We cannot allow anyone to show such objectionable content.” 

His objection was to showing a lesbian couple in marital bliss, rather than the fasting for long life of the spouse tradition or that the product was a skin bleach that promotes ‘lighter skin is beautiful’ concepts. The patriarchy soaked advertisement was withdrawn and the company publicly apologised for the 1.06-minute video advertisement. Mishra told the Hindustan times that he “had asked to send a warning to withdraw the advertisement before registering an FIR for hurting religious sentiments. It’s good that they withdrew the advertisement and also made a tender apology for that.” Religious sentiments being hurt was his major objection.

बस यही करते रहो.. slam,bam,ban! So much for being the ‘Mother’ of democracy! Pity a giant like #Dabur refused to stand behind their AD. While I don’t endorse a fairness cream in principal I reserved my comment as they attempted to celebrate Inclusivity & #PRIDE So why hide now? https://t.co/avzq1XafgW

— Pooja Bhatt (@PoojaB1972) October 26, 2021

The advertisement got mixed reactions on social media platform, some users applauded it for the ”queer storyline” and the hashtag “BoycottFem” also began to trend as others said the advertisement “hurt religious sentiments.” Dabur India released its clarification stating, “Dabur and Fem as a brand strive for diversity, inclusion, and equality and we proudly support these values in our organisation and within our communities. Our campaign too reflects the same. (…) Our intention is not to offend any beliefs, customs and traditions, religious or otherwise. If we have hurt the sentiments of any individual or group, it was unintentional and we apologise. We are also humbled by everyone who has showered their support for the brand and the campaign.”

However, the advertisement also received flak from the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) community as well, HT quoted Tejaswi, Digital Editor, Gaysi Family, a digital platform that publishes queer content, saying, “Some of our biggest crusaders for queer rights in the country today are transwomen of Dalit and non-Savarna identities. We disgrace their labour if we thought this ad could go viral in our name. The ad’s final tagline clearly says that our queerness will be acceptable as long as we are cis-passing, fair-skinned and following certain traditions of living”. A sentiment echoed by many. 

Don’t support the boycott or withdrawal but Dabur ad problematic for me on many levels 1. It’s for a fairness product 2.suggests a regressive ritual becomes progressive coz same sex couple performs it 3. The lesbians are so devoid of nuance they come across as totally straight

— Reema Kagti (@kagtireema) October 26, 2021

Is it just me, or did a skin lightening product brand just try to legitimise a patriarchal tradition by piggy-backing on same-sex relationships? You can’t use lesbians to further patriarchy or colourism, you fools! #LGBTQIA #women #feminismhttps://t.co/cIHtFLXmA2

— Deborah Grey (@GreyFrost) October 23, 2021

The advertisement also comes when, according to reports, the Centre told the Delhi High Court, which is hearing four petitions seeking legalisation of same sex marriages, that a valid marriage can only take place between a biological man and a biological woman. The court will begin the final hearing on the matter on November 30.

Meanwhile, here are a clutch of advertisements that have courted controversy this season:

BJP MP says Aamir Khan’s CEAT Tyres Diwali ad hurts Hindu sentiments

The Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Karnataka Ananthkumar Hegde, has penned a woefully sarcastic letter criticizing CEAT Tyres ad featuring actor Aamir Khan. The MP says Aamir Khan’s CEAT Tyres Diwali ad hurts Hindu sentiments as in the ad, Aamir Khan is seen advising people to not burst crackers on the streets.

Fabindia bullied for Jashn-e-Riwaz 

Trolls inspired by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Tejaswi Surya, ensured that garment giant FabIndia removed its seasonal advertisement. The backlash came after the BJP MP said Diwali was “Not Jashn-e-Riwaaz”, perhaps upset that an Urdu term had been used. Many in the right-wing have decided on their own that Urdu a language is actually only Muslim. 

iD dosa batter gave communal trolls indigestion

Bangalore based iD dosa batter makers bravely countered communal campaign and misinformation, and issued a statement saying batter contains rice, urad dal, fenugreek and RO-water. They were trolled with a hate campaign that spread a dangerous lie over Whatsapp and social media, that the dosa batter made and sold by the popular iD startup contains ‘cattle bones and calf rennet’. The company took to its social media page to reassure customers that this was not the case. 

Indian Express apologises for epic Adityanath advertorial goof up

The Indian Express, in what may be a first for the legacy media organisation, issued an apology style clarification for an advertorial titled ‘Transforming Uttar Pradesh under Yogi Adityanath’ that carried a collage of images from Kolkata, passing them off as achievements of the Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh Government! The biggest photo of the collage was that of the Chief Minister himself, and the smallest one was of the iconic yellow kolkata ambassador taxicab. The flyover being passed off as something Adityanath built was identified as the Maa Flyover bridge in Kolkata. An identical image used in the UP Govt advertorial is incidentally available on the Trinamool Congress website since 2018.

Related:

Aamir Khan: Surviving in the regime’s crosshairs
BJP MP says Aamir Khan’s CEAT Tyres Diwali ad hurts Hindu sentiments
Jashn-e-trolling: What does the festive season mean for bhakts? 
Why did Indian Express apologise for the epic Adityanath advertorial goof up?
Deccan Herald caught in sly attempt to malign Fr. Stan Swamy
Hate Watch: Hindutva group raises slogans outside Muslim-owned shop in Gujarat

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Writers, artists, scholars, activists and concerned citizens have strongly objected to, and raised their voices against a recent full page advertisement by the Peace Party where it proclaims that it is ready to “sacrifice everything to support the mission of establishing the dictate of God (Ahkaam-e-Ilahi) and administration of Mustafa (Nizam-e-Mustafa)”. The party, in this Urdu advertisement has stated that, ‘for the past 100 years, mission of Hegdewar, Savarkar, Nehru, Lohia and Ambedkar has been converted into a religion by the Sarkari Ulema” which it says is “opposed to ‘fundamental principles of Ahkam-e-Ilahi and Nizam-e-Mustafa’.”

The message in the advertisement translates as: “We the ulema from various (Islamic) sects hereby declare our resolve to fully support the Peace Party’s political mission to establish Ahkam-e-Ilahi (Allah’s Laws) and Nizam-e-Mustafa (Prophet Mohammed’s style of government) and are prepared to make every sacrifice needed for the success of this political mission. For the past 100 years the sarkari ulema have made it an article of their faith to support the political mission of Hedgewar (RSS), Savarkar (Hindu Mahasabha), Nehru, Lohia and Amdebkar and rallied the Muslim masses in their support. This stance of theirs is totally contrary to the principles of Ahkaam-e-Ilahi and Nizam-e-Mustafa. We members of the Shariat Council oppose such anti-Shariah practice and appeal to the Muslim  masses to beware of the sarkari ulema who only act for their personal benefit.”

This radical and fundamental tone has evoked strong reactions from many eminent citizens, some of whom are Muslims, some are followers of different religions, and others are agnostic or atheist. The citizens have reminded readers that “‘Nizam-e-Mustafa’ is a phrase coined and popularized by the most fundamentalist and fascistic section under the most uncivilized regime of the most hated dictator of Pakistan, General Zia.” 

They have called this advertisement, an “attack on the Constitution of the country.” The signatories to the statement that condemns the offensive advertisement, have siad that, “the Hindu and Muslim communal mindset was always at the forefront of saboteurs who finally succeeded in dividing the country on religious lines. However, it is a historical fact that overwhelming majority of Hindus and Muslim other citizens of the country rejected divisive, fundamentalist and reactionary ideologies. Majority of Muslims consciously decided not to migrate, refused Pakistani citizenship, and majority of Hindus rejected the idea of a Hindu Rashtra, instead opted for a secular, democratic and sovereign India.”

They reiterated that under “Gandhi, Nehru, Maulana Azad, Sardar Patel and Babasaheb Ambedkar, whose leadership was widely accepted by people of all religions, regions, castes and linguistic minorities, the idea of India as a secular nation won the battle.”  But even decades later, the “divisive forces who would like to convert it into a chaotic, barbaric, violent fascistic nation have never given up their conspiratorial efforts.”  

The Peace Party (PP) is a political party that is active mostly in Uttar Pradesh, it came into being in February 2008, and was founded by Dr Mohamed Ayub.

The recent full page advertisement published by the Peace Party, stated the secular citizens, was an attack “in a series of attacks on the idea of India.”  They called it “derogatory and divisive in many ways”, adding that it deliberately and “conspiratorially puts the names of the most respected secular stalwarts of the freedom movement like Nehru, Lohia and Baba Sahib Ambedkar in the same category as those who propagated fascist ideology.”

The statement released by academics, activists and writers Javed Anand, Shabnam Hashmi, and Gauhar Raza, and has been signed by nearly 200 concerned citizens, added that the Peace Party’s advertisement has been issued “when communal forces in the country are trying to vitiate the atmosphere in the name of religion”. They state that this advertisement and its timing, “is part of the conspiracy to tear apart the social and cultural fabric of India by dividing peace loving, anti-violence, toiling masses of the country. The language and message of the advertisement amply shows that all fundamentalists, be it Peace Party or many frontal organizations of RSS, use religion to propagate their fascistic ideologies.” Other signatories include Juzar Bandukwala, Muniza Khan, Sukla Sen and Teesta Setalvad.

“Talking of Nizam-e-Mustafa in a secular India, which has thousands of communities – religious, ethnic, linguistic, is deliberately and maliciously adding fuel to the hate campaigns. Let us not forget that majority of the Muslims did not support Jinnah and his Muslim league. They couldn’t stop the partition but they never supported the two nation theory propounded by Muslim League and RSS.”

The signitories have appealed to the “Muslim community and all secular Indians irrespective of their religion to unequivocally condemn the statement of such Muslim leaders and their nefarious designs.”

Apart from all else, the fact that several ‘mainstream’ Urdu papers like Inquilab have given space to such a divisive advertisement is also an aspect that needs some analysis and assessment
 

The entire statement by citizens may be read here :

Related: 

Rejection of Extremist Doctrine by Indian Muslims 
Zakir Naik Showcases the Rot within Islamic Theology
HRDA India exposes UP Police’s tactics to muzzle voice of human rights defender Raja Bhaiyya

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Vehicles pass by a government of India poster around the World Hindi Conference in September, 2015. In its first 52 months in power, the National Democratic Alliance government spent Rs 4880 crore on publicity.
 
These were some of the things that could have been financed with the money that the current National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government spent on publicity in the four years it has governed India.
 
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government spent Rs 4,880 crore ($753.99 million) on advertising its flagship schemes in the 52 months between April 2014 and July 2018, according to the information made available to the Rajya Sabha (Parliament’s upper house) by Rajyavardhan Rathore, minister of state (Independent Charge) for information and broadcasting.
 
This amount is double the sum spent by the government’s predecessor in 37 months: The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government spent Rs 2,048 crore ($377.32 million) between March 2011 and March 2014, according to this 2014 response to a Right To Information (RTI) query filed by activist Anil Galgali.
 
Of the Rs 4,880 crore the NDA spent on publicity, Rs 292.17 crore (7.81%) went to advertising four public schemes in three years–Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (Prime Minister’s Crop Insurance Scheme) for crop insurance, Swachh Bharat Mission (Clean India Mission) for a nationwide cleanliness campaign, Smart City Mission and Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (Ideal Village Scheme for Members of Parliament) for urban and rural development.
 

 
When these figures came to light in July 2018, the government was criticised for not investing the money in public utilities.

 
 
 
IndiaSpend calculations showed that the money spent by the NDA on publicity could have been used in critical government projects ranging from child nutrition to public health and sanitation.

 
There’s been a 34% rise in govt ad spend in four years
 
Government expenditure on advertisements rose 34% from Rs 980 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 1,314 crore ($203.89 million) in 2017-18.
 
In 2016-17, the government cut down on print advertisements and channeled money into audio-visual publicity instead. But in 2017-18, it did the reverse–it spent more on print ads than audio-visual campaigns.
 
The 2017-18 trend seemed to have continued into this financial year too. The government’s bookings in the four months to July 2018 show that it has spent double the money on print advertising over audio-visual publicity.
 
(Shreya Raman is a data analyst with IndiaSpend.)
 
Courtesy: India Spend

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आरटीआई के तहत मांगी गई जानकारी में इसका खुलासा हुआ है। आरटीआई कार्यकर्ता रामवीर सिंह के सवालों पर सूचना एवं प्रसारण मंत्रालय ने यह जानकारी दी है। यह खर्च एक जून 2014 से 31 अगस्त 2016 के बीच किया गया।
 
हिसाब लगाया जाए तो इसका मतलब है कि सिर्फ विज्ञापनों पर सरकार ने 1.4 करोड़ रूपए रोज़ाना खर्च किए हैं। देखा जाए तो यह भारत के मंगल अभियान मंगलयान के खर्च से दोगुना है। आपको बता दें कि मंगलयान पर हुए खर्च की कीमत सिर्फ 450 करोड़ रुपए है।
 
एक आरटीआई से खुलासा हुआ है कि मोदी सरकार ने अपने ढाई साल के कार्यकाल में विज्ञापनों पर 1100 करोड़ रुपए ख़र्च किए हैं। कुछ महीने पहले इसी तरह का आरोप आम आदमी पार्टी पर भी लगा था, तब भाजपा ने तीखा हमला बोलते हुए कहा था कि आप सिर्फ़ अपने प्रचार में लगी हुई है।
 
विज्ञापन एवं दृश्य प्रचार निदेशालय, सूचना एवं प्रसारण मंत्रालय के प्रचार विभाग ने विज्ञापनों पर किए गए इस खर्च को विभिन्न मदों के तहत दिखाया है। इसमें टेलीविजन, रेडियो, सिनेमा, इंटरनेट और एसएमएस तक को शामिल किया गया है। सबसे ज्यादा खर्च प्रसारण में किया गया, जो कि पिछले ढाई साल में करीब 200 करोड़ रुपए है। यहां तक कि सिर्फ एसएमएस पर ही डीएवीपी ने 17 करोड़ रुपए से अधिक खर्च कर दिया, जो कि अंदाजन 2 लाख रुपए प्रतिदिन है।
 
यह ख़र्च सिर्फ़ प्रसारण/टेलीविजन, इंटरनेट और अन्य इलेक्ट्रॉनिक मीडिया का है. इसमें प्रिंट विज्ञापन, होर्डिंग्स, पोस्टर, बुकलेट और कैलेंडर शामिल नहीं हैं। अगर ये खर्च भी जोड़ लिए जाएं तो कुल खर्च की राशि काफी अधिक हो सकती है।

Courtesy: National Dastak
 

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Through half-page advertisements published this morning in all editions across six states of the Urdu daily Rashtriya Sahara, 17 prominent ulema and muftis from different sects have issued a joint statement warning all Muslims to beware of a man named Shakeel bin Hanif and his followers. Hanif, who is ‘Hazrat JI’ to his band of followers, claims to be Jesus and Imam Mahdi whose return to earth at the end of times forms part of the belief of Muslims.

Though Hanif claims to be a devout follower of Islam, according to the statement, he is a fraud and an apostate and so his followers too are apostates. Thus they are “outside the fold of Islam” and Muslims are advised to beware of the “mischief” of this “Dajjal”. Muslims believe Dajjal is an evil figure who will surface close to the Day of Judgment pretending to be Jesus returning to earth.

The joint statement asks Muslims to remain on high alert, immediately inform religious leaders of the activities of any of his followers, severe all relations with them and not allow them to enter their mosques.

The immediate prompt for the ad-blitz is the incident in Delhi two days ago when four followers of Hanif reportedly entered the Hari Masjid in Jamia Nagar to propagate their belief. The Rashtriya Sahara yesterday reported that “caught red-handed” they were handed over to the trustees of Hari Masjid.

The trustees reportedly tried to reason with the young men and later asked them to leave the mosque. As soon as they came out of the mosque the foursome allegedly resorted to stone throwing following which they were apprehended and handed over to the police who have registered an FIR against Hanif’s four followers.

Hailing originally from Darbangha in Bihar, young Hanif moved to Delhi in 1991 after being disowned by his family who refused to subscribe to his claims of being the promised Imam Mahdi and Jesus. He is currently believed to be living underground and propagating his faith among Muslims in Aurangabad in Maharashtra.

While his present contacts are not known, a booklet in Urdu may be accessed online – wherein Hanif rebuts the many allegations against him – provides some interesting details of his background.

Here is ‘Hazrat Ji’ in his own words: “In 1991 I was studying in a college in Darbangha city and staying in a lodge. While the battle between Saddam Hussain and the Allied Forces was in its last stage, around the time of the last namaz of the evening, I received a command from Allah to dedicate my life in the service of Islam. I, therefore, had to abandon my college studies to devote myself to the task assigned to me.”

The joint statement says Muslims and the ulema who have already been fighting the “kufr” of the Ahmeddiyas for a long time have now to join battle against the new “apostates”. The Ahmeddiyas who consider themselves to be Muslims and followers of Islam but according to the other Muslims they are apostates and have had to face severe prosecution in Pakistan.

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