Radio Mirchi pulled down its '#MatAaoIndia' campaign with an apology for putting up a creative asking foreigners to not visit India in the wake of attack in Agra on a couple from Switzerland.
The Swiss couple was brutally assaulted in Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur Sikri on 22 October. They had arrived in India on 30 September. The couple was beaten up by two adults and three minors who have been arrested and sent to a childcare centre in Shah Ganj.
Following the incident, the radio channel came out with a seemingly satirical #MatAaoIndia campaign. The channel’s aim, as reported by The Wire, was possibly to bring to attention the problem of safety for tourists by putting forth statements which directly poke fun at the government’s official tourism slogan of ‘Incredible India’.
However, many people slammed the radio channel for the campaign, which intended to address the issue with some humour. Following a massive Twitter backlash from right-wing personalities urging people to boycott the channel, Radio Mirchi realised that they needed to take down the campaign.
According to The Wire, they were pushed to do so immediately, when they received a ‘show-cause’ notice from the Smriti Irani-led I&B ministry for violating All India Radio’s program and advertisement code.
The channel has been asked to respond within 15 days as to why they should not be penalised.
The channel has thus taken down the campaign and posted an apology for it as well.
The channel posted the apology on Twitter on Friday.
Inputs from IANS and The Wire.
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