MUMBAI: Farhan Akhtar has signed a deal with Myntra.com in order to strengthen his social cause MARD (Men Against Rape and Discrimination).

As per the deal, Myntra.com has exclusively launched MARD T-shirts. This being a non-profit campaign, the t-shirts are priced at a manufacturing cost of Rs 199 and are available for both men and women.

Post the Delhi rape incident, Akhtar channeled his anger in the form of a poem called ‘What is this country that I live in‘ which attracted a lot of attention. Amongst the sea of calls Akhtar received, an idea was born with JWT creative director Tarun Chauhan and Bling‘s Atul Kasbekar. The trio came together and created a platform called MARD.

Myntra co-founder and CEO Mukesh Bansal said, "We believe that the India of tomorrow lies with the youth of today. Social awareness campaigns such as MARD are extremely impactful to educate and change the attitudes of people. We are really excited to be the chosen partner to support such an important cause with Farhan. With the launch of MARD T-shirts on Myntra.com, we want to help spread awareness to a wider audience and encourage our shoppers to stand up for the cause."

"What is lacking in our society today is basic respect for women which leads to crimes such as rape and gender discrimination. With this campaign, we want to spread awareness across people of all age groups, socio-economic status and educational institutions. Our partnership with Myntra.com to market MARD t-shirts online will help connect with a larger audience and drive home the message that a MARD is he who stands for equality, respect and compassion," said Akhtar.

Taking the MARD initiative one notch higher, Akhtar attended the IPL Match between Kolkata Knight Riders and King‘s XI Punjab on 26 April. Post the toss, he recited the ‘MARD‘ poem (composed by Javed Akhtar). The poem was also recited in Bengali, by playback singer, Shaan.