Lawrence Bishnoi ‘Hero’ T-shirt on Meesho: Here’s what the company has to say

Online shopping platform Meesho has responded to reports after it faced backlash for selling a T-shirt depicting Lawrence Bishnoi as a ‘hero’. The listing sparked outrage among social media users who are criticizing Meesho for selling products that glorify criminal figures on its platform. In an official statement, the company said that it has removed the product from its website and remains ‘committed to providing a safe and trusted shopping’.

Meesho releases an official statement

A Meesho spokesperson said “We have taken immediate action to deactivate the products. Meesho remains committed to providing a safe and trusted shopping platform for all our users”.
The issue was first highlighted by user Alishan Jafri @alishan_jafri who shared a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) with images of the Lawrence Bishnoi t-shirt listing on Meesho. He wrote “People are literally selling gangster merchandise on platforms like @Meesho_Official and Teeshopper. This is just one example of India’s latest online radicalisation.”
He shared photos of the T-shirt with Lawrence Bishnoi’s picture, with some including the word “gangster.” One such photos read “The Real Hero”. These t-shirts are selling for price as low as Rs 166.

Take a look at the Meesho’s Lawrence Bishnoi ‘hero’ t-shirt here

In a series of posts, the user showed a listing of other t-shirts with notorious people’s photos on them. In one such post, he wrote “apart from Lawrence, you can also buy Durlabh Kashyap t-shirts.” “At a time when the police and NIA are struggling to stop youths from joining gang crime, social media influencers are making quick money by promoting gang content and glorifying gangsters,” he added.

What social media users said

Commenting on the post, one user said “Shame on Meesho and similar websites. Shame.” Another user commented “So Meesho loves gangsters and promotes them on kids’ apparels. Wow!”.
“This should be stopped, we can’t encourage the younger generation to think of this gangster as heroes,” commented a third.
Another replied “Meesho should be de-platformed.” Another user said “This gangster culture will destroy India”.