India’s famous e-commerce platform Meesho is under trouble for selling t-shirts featuring Lawrence Bishnoi. The attire sports the image and name of, a notorious gangster from Punjab who had made it to the pages of history for gangland killings. The controversy began after filmmaker Alishan Jafri posted about it on X (formerly Twitter), pointing out a series of t-shirts available on Meesho’s site that featured Bishnoi’s images, some even available in children’s sizes. This incident has gone viral on social media, with many criticizing Meesho for “glorifying violence.”.
In response to the storm, Meesho took the products off its platform. A company spokesperson added, “We have promptly acted to disable the products. Meesho delivers a safe and trustworthy experience for all users.” Outlines of the products remained in cyberspace; an internet search on Google uncovered them listed on Meesho’s website as “out of stock,” apparently just recently pulled.
Lawrence Bishnoi is far beyond featuring on t-shirts of Meesho
Lawrence Bishnoi is the man who has featured in the headlines in recent days following an alleged link between him and the killing of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, shot dead in Mumbai on October 12. He is currently doing time in Sabarmati jail, Ahmedabad, but it is claimed that he runs an enormous network in India, involving over 700 gangsters involved in extortion, contract killings, and other crimes of organised groups.
In addition, the name of Bishnoi came out at a time when Indian-Canadian diplomacy was growing. In mid-October, a Canadian government official claimed that there were links between the Bishnoi group and Indian Government agents that further fueled the controversy. The Indian Government was also accused by Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, of running criminal gangs to target the Khalistan supporters who live in Canada.
This buzz about the Lawrence Bishnoi t-shirts of Meesho brought this issue to mainstream – of portraying violent characters in the products that are in mainstream which can be reached by younger minds. This has just added fuel to the discussions over responsible retails practices and ethical liabilities of e-commerce giants, with whom Meesho is struggling to deal and manage public pressure to its advantage and as a measure to meet platform expectations.
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