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Meesho under fire for selling Lawrence Bishnoi T-shirts; Post goes viral

Posted on by Pranco
Meesho under fire for selling Lawrence Bishnoi T-shirts; Post goes viral

E-commerce platform Meesho is facing significant backlash for selling t-shirts featuring gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. A social media post by filmmaker Alishan Jafri mentioned the problem. In a post on

Jafri described it as a case of “India’s latest online radicalisation”, sparking a wider debate about how digital marketplaces can inadvertently contribute to the glorification of criminals.

In his post, Jafri warned of the dangers of glorifying such figures, highlighting real-life examples where young people have been influenced by gang-related content. He pointed to a case in Deoria where a 15-year-old boy murdered a friend, allegedly inspired by online gang culture. He also named three boys in Delhi who formed a group called “Badnaam Gang” and allegedly planned to document their criminal activities on Instagram in search of fame.

“I spent much of October following India’s online gangster fan groups. At a time when the police and the NIA are struggling to prevent youth from joining gang crimes, social media influencers are making a quick buck by promoting gang content and glorifying gangsters,” he wrote.

He added: “A few months ago, a 15-year-old boy from Deoria, inspired by gangster content, murdered his friend. Previously, he allegedly attacked his school director and abused a girl. Similarly, three young boys in Delhi formed a group called ‘Badnaam Gang’ and planned to kill someone and make it viral on Instagram, with the aim of becoming dons.”

Bishnoi’s gang has been involved in several high-profile crimes, including the murder of the Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Walarecent threats against Bollywood actor Salman Khan and the assassination of NCP leader Baba Siddique, among other criminal activities.

The post quickly caught the attention of online users; Many called the platform “de-platformed” and were held responsible for selling such things online. One of the users wrote: “@meesho_support @Meesho_Official are you supporting state sponsored terrorism or is it your own?”

Another user added, “Glorifying crime and individual charges filed by @NIA_India in the terror-gangster network case has become a business in India and companies like @Meesho_Official are making money by indoctrinating children into crime. @NCPCR_ should take note of this and NIA should investigate the matter.”

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