New Delhi:
An advertisement, meant to project Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as secular, is turning out to be an embarrassment for him and his government.
Photo courtesy:www.twocircles.net
It was supposed to give out the message that Muslims in Gujarat are better off than anywhere else in the country but the girls in the ad have little to do with Gujarat. In fact, they were studying in a college in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh.
"We were doing one year DCA course from Shibli Inter College in 2008. One journalist who visited there took an interview of us and 4-5 photos and I am there in the photo; we were three girls there. This is not a fake photograph but what they are saying is wrong," said Shahla Muzafar, one of the girls in the photographs.
"I haven't seen the advertisement. After going through it we will call a meeting of guardians and management and seek legal opinion," said Iftekhar Ahmed, Principal, Shibli College.
A US-based portal run by Indian Muslims, from which the photograph was apparently taken, has now threatened to sue the Modi government.
"The photograph might have been placed for symbolic interpretation but that does not alter the content of the advertisement," said Jaynarayan Vyas, Spokesman, Gujarat government.
"It can be a mistake by the ad agency but as far as the minorities are concerned, we can discuss this openly, the minorities have the highest growth rate in Gujarat," said Ravishankar Praasad, BJP Spokesperson.
All said and done, an image makeover exercise has gone wrong.
Photo courtesy:www.twocircles.net
It was supposed to give out the message that Muslims in Gujarat are better off than anywhere else in the country but the girls in the ad have little to do with Gujarat. In fact, they were studying in a college in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh.
"We were doing one year DCA course from Shibli Inter College in 2008. One journalist who visited there took an interview of us and 4-5 photos and I am there in the photo; we were three girls there. This is not a fake photograph but what they are saying is wrong," said Shahla Muzafar, one of the girls in the photographs.
"I haven't seen the advertisement. After going through it we will call a meeting of guardians and management and seek legal opinion," said Iftekhar Ahmed, Principal, Shibli College.
A US-based portal run by Indian Muslims, from which the photograph was apparently taken, has now threatened to sue the Modi government.
"The photograph might have been placed for symbolic interpretation but that does not alter the content of the advertisement," said Jaynarayan Vyas, Spokesman, Gujarat government.
"It can be a mistake by the ad agency but as far as the minorities are concerned, we can discuss this openly, the minorities have the highest growth rate in Gujarat," said Ravishankar Praasad, BJP Spokesperson.
All said and done, an image makeover exercise has gone wrong.
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