The ongoing Navratri festival seems to have courted multiple controversies in short period of time. From Jammu lawyer Deepika Rajawat to US VP candidate Kamala Harris’ niece Meena, many have hurt sentiments of Hindus across the globe by sharing caricatures around the 9-day celebration.
On Thursday morning, Twitter witnessed the hashtag #BoycottErosNow as one of its top trends. This comes after a section of netizens shared screenshots of the production and distribution company’s tweets around Hindu vs Muslim festivals.
Netizens shared a comparison claiming that ever since the company hired Ali Hussein, a Muslim CEO, there have been ‘anti-Hindu’ tweets flowing in.
Many have also shared tweets that feature Katrina Kaif alongside the quote, “Do you want to put the ratri in my Navratri”, and Salman Khan with the words, “You need a dandi to play dandiya – I have one.”
Here are some reactions to the same on Twitter.
Eros Now reacted to the flak on social media and released a statement on Twitter apologising for the same.
"To all those concerned, We at Eros love and respect our cultures equally. It is not, and it has never been, our intention to hurt anyone's emotions. We have deleted the concerned posts and we apologise for having offended anybody's sentiments. Thanking you, Team Eros Now."
Earlier, lawyer Deepika Singh Rajawat, best known for representing the family of Kathua rape and murder victim, shared a controversial Navratri cartoon depicted a man touching the feet of a deity during Navratri, and later the same man holding both legs of a woman on the rest of the days.
"Irony," captioned Deepika while sharing the cartoon from her official Twitter handle.
Not to mention, the Hindu groups in the US who sought an apology from the niece of Senator Kamala Harris for tweeting an "offensive" image, which depicted the Democratic vice-presidential nominee as goddess Durga.
The tweet has now been deleted by Meena Harris, 35, who is a lawyer.
This year, Navratri will not be graced by both Dandiya and Garba due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The rasas of Dandiya and Garba see devotees dressed in colourful traditional chaniya cholis and dancing to folk tunes as an offering to Goddess Durga.
It is performed generally during the evenings of the nine-day-long festival, which finally culminates into Dussehra.
Devotees dance in circles and celebrate the auspicious nine (nav) nights (ratri).
Some of such events see live orchestra performing while folk singers serve as the essence in others.
Also known as Sharad Navratri, the occasion is believed to mark Goddess Durga's victory over demon Mahishasura, signifying the victory of good over evil.
