Firebrand BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde has shot off a letter to CEAT chief executive Anant Vardhan Goenka rebuking the company’s latest advertisement featuring Bollywood star Aamir Khan for creating “unrest among Hindus”.
Hegde, the Uttara Kannada MP and former union minister, is referring to the latest CEAT ad for its SecureDrive tyres that shows Khan advising people not to burst crackers on roads.
Hegde’s letter comes days after another firebrand BJP MP Tejasvi Surya and others targeted clothing brand Fabindia for its Jashn-e-Riwaaz collection, which was attacked for being anti-Hindu.
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“...your company’s advertisement has created an unrest among the Hindus. I hope in future your organization will respect the Hindu sentiment and will not hurt it directly or indirectly by any means (sic),” Hegde has stated in his October 14 letter that has come to light now.
Hegde starts off his letter telling Goenka that the ad contained “a very good message” for its concern on public issues.
“In this regard, I request you to address one more problem faced by people on the roads, i.e blocking roads in the name of Namaz on Fridays and other important festive days by Muslims,” he stated. According to Hegde, it is common in many Indian cities for Muslims to “block busy roads and perform Namaz”, which he said obstructed ambulances and firefighting vehicles “causing grave losses”.
Hegde also urged Goenka to make ads on noise pollution caused by mikes used at mosques. “Every day, loud noise is emitted from mikes arranged on the top of mosques in our country when Azan is given. That sound is beyond the permissible limits,” he stated. “On Fridays, it is prolonged for some more time,” he wrote, adding that this caused “great inconvenience to people suffering from different ailments”.
Identifying Goenka as a fellow Hindu, Hegde wrote: “I am sure you feel the discrimination done to the Hindus since centures. Nowadays, a group of anti-Hindu actors always hurt the sentiments whereas they never try to expose the wrongdoings of their community.”
During the day, #ShameonYouCeatTyres was trending on Twitter.
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