On 9 May 2024, the Bombay High Court ordered the removal of social media posts against Kerala-based Malabar Gold Limited and determined that the posts were baseless. It also deemed Hindu nationalist Kajal Shingala’s (Kajal Hindustani) demand for a boycott of the company “prima facie defamatory,” leaving Hindu organisations stunned.

On 1 May 2024, Kajal criticised Malabar Gold’s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) programme on social media, which offers scholarships to girls. She uploaded a photo showing several girls in hijab holding certificates issued by Malabar Gold while providing scholarships. Malabar Gold has a habit of shamelessly publicising its charity work and showing the beneficiaries.

Malabar Gold filed a petition against Kajal Shingala, Murali Iyengar, and Shefali Vaidya on 6 May. The first hearing was scheduled for 8 May. The Court ordered the removal of the post on 9 May.

The Court’s attempt to create an illusion of the judiciary’s efficiency did not go unnoticed among Hindus. We have seen several Hindu issues, including the Kashmiri Hindu genocide, being pushed to the back or declined to intervene by the same courts and judicial system of our country. Many felt the court order contained observations that bordered on Hinduphobia.

Under the brand name “Malabar Gold and Diamonds,” Malabar Gold Limited manufactures and trades jewellery and other items made of gold, silver, precious stones, diamonds, and high-end watches. They claimed the boycott call intended to cause irreparable damage and harm to its reputation.

Malabar Gold was founded by Kozhikode-based M. P. Ahammed in 2001. All the original promoters were Muslims. The company was actively promoted by local Masjids, where Imams purportedly exhorted the Islamist believers to invest in the venture.

Their website now claims to have 4,000 shareholders. A few Hindus were recently added to the list to show off Malabar Gold’s ‘secular’ credentials. The group opens new branches by collecting funds from like-minded local Islamists who prefer to earn a quick buck.

Kerala is a hub of gold smuggling, and it is common knowledge that most jewellers buy such illicit gold to enrich themselves, no questions asked. Not a single day passes by without news of gold confiscated in Kerala’s international airports, and most carriers (women included) are Islamists from Malabar. Our courts have never questioned the parallel economy that thrives on gold smuggling.

Malabar Gold courted controversy in 2016 when their UAE branches allegedly celebrated Pakistan’s Independence Day. Fact-checkers claimed the news was false. The media twisted the incident into a mere ad campaign and a competition arranged by the brand about Pakistan’s Independence Day on 14 August. Malabar Gold claimed they are an essentially ‘Indian brand’ trying to promote Make In India and attempted to cover up using the same old CSR initiative farce.

This time, Malabar Gold requested an injunction to stop Kajal’s opinion from spreading online as a temporary remedy from the Court. It is important to remember that the Court granted the current judgment in the interim application. Malabar Gold has claimed damages of Rs. 70 crores as compensation for the broader remedy.

Malabar Gold claimed its CSR policy focuses on health, education, women’s empowerment, housing, a hunger-free world, and the environment. The company declared it has contributed more than Rs.246 Crores towards CSR activities for 81,000 women and provided educational Scholarships to approximately 77,000 girls. (A religion-wise data sheet might be attractive.)

To emphasise this point, Malabar Gold sent the Court multiple reports and reviews detailing its CSR initiatives, which were themed “Empowering Education and Empowering Womanhood” and involved well-known figures nationwide. The Court further observed that the efforts were implemented in several big cities and small towns. If one goes by the same logic, will our courts ever be able to prosecute Adani-Ambani if they indulge in white-collar crimes or religious impartiality?

The complainants claimed that three defendants had improperly exploited some of the images from their scholarship distribution ceremonies, causing irreversible harm to the company’s reputation in the business sector. Furthermore, the lawsuit highlighted the messages’ communal nature and capacity to sow social division.

Due to this, the plaintiff requested an injunction against Shingala with the High Court, alleging that she was trying to damage the company’s reputation by organising the “#BoycottMalabar” campaign. The current suit’s interim application asks the Court to stop the defendants from spreading any misleading material.

Kajal and Shefali have led the boycott of ads of companies featuring women without bindis (No Bindi, No Business). Malabar Gold ads feature bindi-less, openly anti-Hindu models like Alia Bhat and Kareena Kapoor Khan.

Justice Bharati Dangre’s bench remarked in the order that Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote is squarely applicable to the present case: “Darkness cannot drive out Darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Do Hindus need such Abrahamic classes on moral science?

The bench criticised the defendant at first for picking out one picture that only showed the scholarships given to Muslim females and ignored the more significant effort to empower girls through education.

“The photographs clicked have captured a particular group of girls in their attire, making it evident that they belong to the Muslim community. One of the various clicked photographs is of the girls from Government PU College, Uppinangady (Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka) and the picture of several girls is captured, where the girls are seen posing for the camera, with the scholarship certificate along with four others, which may be the part of the trust or some officials from their institution. They are clad in their traditional attire.” 

“The tagline of Kajal Shingala’s post-dated 1 May 2024, under the #BoycottMalabar, is commented upon, alongside photographs of the student scholarship ceremony arranged by the Plaintiff CSR activities, and what impression is given to the readers is that the Plaintiff gives scholarship only to the students of a particular community (Muslim) and the Plaintiff views this as creating nuisance and defaming it by making a victim of undeserved vicious defamatory onslaught and misleading the general public resulting into loss of its reputation.” 

Following Malabar Gold’s complaint, Shefali and Murali deleted the posts from each of their personal Twitter accounts.

According to Malabar Gold, Kajal was previously detained for making a controversial statement during Ramnavmi that allegedly incited hatred between the Muslim and Hindu populations and caused a disturbance.

Mostly, gold in Bharat is purchased by Hindus to secure their family’s (especially the girl children) future. While Muslims claim Hindus indulge in dowry. Though it might still exist in some geographical areas, on the whole, Hindu society hates it, and Hindu girls reject grooms who demand it.

Islamists indulge in Mahr. In Muslim marriages, it is an amount of money or property paid by the husband to his wife. In other words, it is an amount paid to the future wife’s father for caring for her until then. The payment increases with the girl’s educational qualifications. Mahr is not an optional gift.

In addition, the Court barred the future uploading of comparable content from certain URLs and ordered social media sites X (Twitter), Instagram, and META Platforms Inc. to remove any posts or comments about the defamatory content. Notably, Malabar Gold has not requested a remedy against YouTube, Google LLC, or Google India in its current application. The High Court set 8 July for additional consideration of the case.

To severely hurt Malabar Gold, where it hurts most (financials), Kajal urged Hindus to forgo doing business with the company since “Akshaya Tritiya” was approaching. This year, Akshaya Tritiya fell on 10 May. Whether Hindus took a cue from her opinions remains unknown. Like vultures, several media outlets, fact-checkers, liberals and intellectuals have jumped in to whitewash Malabar Gold by criticising Kajal.

(Featured Image Source: Business Standard)