Mahwa Moitra, an Indian parliament member from the West Bengal Transitional Military Council (TMC) party, was the subject of two criminal complaints filed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday for making “insulting” and “insulting” comments to Hindu goddess Kali.
India is still dealing with protests sparked by a BJP spokeswoman who made comments deemed insulting to Muhammad Islam.
A new blasphemy crisis erupted when Moitra, who describes herself as a practicing Hindu, was asked for her opinion on a deliberately provocative “documentary” called Cali Written by Canada-based writer and director Lina Manimicalai.
Trinamool Member of Parliament Mahwa Moitra at Parliament House on April 4, 2022 in New Delhi, India. (Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
The film, which premiered at the Rhythms of Canada Festival in Toronto on Saturday, is about a goddess who appears in modern Toronto and reviews contemporary culture.
Thrilled to share the release of my latest movie – today at Tweet embed As part of “Rhythms of Canada”
end to end: https://t.co/RAQimMt7LnI created this performance document as a set of https://t.co/D5ywx1Y7WuTweet embed Tweet embed Tweet embed
Feeling pumped up with CREW❤️ pic.twitter.com/L8LDDnctC9
– Leena Manimekalai (@LeenaManimekali) 2 July 2022
Manimikalay, an ardent left-wing activist, announced the film with a poster of Kali smoking a cigarette and waving a gay pride flag. The movie apparently depicts her drinking alcohol and eating meat.
Kali, also spelled Kali, would be able to do all of these things at once, since she had many arms, but the angry Hindus said it was disrespectful to Manimicalai to show her doing any of them.
“According to Hindu Dharma Sanatan standards, Goddess Kali is never worshiped as a goddess who consumes alcohol or meat. Goddess Kali has been revered by Hindus throughout the ages as a symbol of strength against evil,” BJP official Sukanta Majumdar explained.
Hindus were especially angry because India was so jerky Among the Islamic riots since BJP spokeswoman Nupur Sharma made a comment on Aisha, the Prophet Muhammad’s bride, on a TV talk show in late May:
Why are Hindu gods, goddesses, and articles of faith mocked, ridiculed, and humiliated at the altar of “liberal creativity”? Should Hindus be punished for their tolerance? Shouldn’t Hindus be forced to adopt a tougher stance? https://t.co/B5wS8J7xJu
– Sreemoy Talukdar (@sreemoytalukdar) 3 July 2022
“Oh, so sarcasm is acceptable our Religion and not Islam? The thrust was the response of many Hindus. On Wednesday, a senior Hindu cleric named Raju Das Meditation That if Hindus wanted the same respect as Muslims, they should start by beheading people for blasphemy.
Complaints were settled Against Manimikalay with police in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh over the weekend, the director was charged with a “deliberate act to harm Hindu religious sentiments”.
On Tuesday, the Indian High Commission Requested Canadian authorities should “withdraw the provocative material” relating to Cali The film, especially the controversial poster. The Indian commission said that “several Hindu groups have contacted the authorities in Canada to take action”.
India-born Canadian Member of Parliament, Chandra Arya, has expressed his disapproval of Cali Poster thanking the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto for presenting official apology For Hindus who have offended:
It hurts to see Kali’s poster by director Leena Manimekalai.
In the past few years, traditional anti-Hindu and anti-Indian groups in Canada have joined forces which has led to anti-Hinduphobia articles in the media and attacks on our Hindu temples.
apology from Tweet embed Welcome and appreciated– Chandra Arya (@AryaCanada) 5 July 2022
Manimicali defiantly refused to apologize or censor her film. On Monday, she said He said Unaffected by the death threats: “I have nothing to lose. I want to be a voice that speaks without fear of anything until it is [silenced]. If the price is my life, I will give it.”
“CaliThe film is about choosing love and upholding humanity. Trolls who chase after me witches are fueled by hate. They have nothing to do with faith. If they are patient enough to watch the movie, they may choose love. “That’s exactly why they wanted to ban the film,” she said in an interview on Tuesday.
Manimikalay denounced India’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party as a “fundamentalist fascist regime” that was only criticizing her film for wanting to “divide the people of this country and harvest hate as voices”. She also accused the BJP of “slowly brewing a genocide of minorities”.
Parliamentarian Mahwa Muytra I entered Controversy on Tuesday when asked about Cali Poster in a media forum. She replied that she had no problem with that, arguing that every Hindu should be free to interpret and worship his deities as he saw fit.
“Within Hinduism, being a Kali worshiper, I have the freedom to imagine my Kali in this way,” said Moytra. “This is my freedom and I don’t think anyone’s feelings should be hurt.”
“Kali to me, is a goddess who eats meat and accepts alcohol. You are free to imagine your own goddess. There are some places where whiskey is served to the gods and in some other places it is blasphemy,” continued.
Moitra, who started her career in the main opposition Indian Congress before moving to TMC, was strongly denounced by BJP leaders for her comments. Sukanta Majumdar, the BJP’s chief of state, who explained that Kali is “never worshiped as a goddess who consume alcohol and meat”, called for Moitra not only to be condemned and expelled by her party, but also to be arrested by the police.
Another parliamentarian, Suvindu Adhikari, played on the hypocrisy of the TMC party who called for the arrest of Noupur Sharma while indulging in Muitra’s insult to Hinduism.
The TMC government and the state police have been very active in seeking police action against Nupur Sharma, but they have not taken any action against Mahwa Muitra. There can be no different set of rules for the BJP and TMC leaders. “We will wait ten days and then go to court,” Adhikari said.
TMC leaders distanced themselves from Moitra without formally reprimanding her or asking for her resignation, as the BJP did with Nupur Sharma.
Comments made by Mahwa Muitra at the India Today Conclave East 2022, and her views expressed regarding Goddess Kali, were made in her personal capacity and have not been endorsed by the party in any way or form. The party said via its Twitter account, with confirmation in the original text.
“Most likely, an explanation will be sought from her, and she will be warned against making such remarks in the future,” a senior commander of the Transitional Military Council I suggested In an interview on Wednesday.
Muitra criticized her critics, accusing them of misrepresenting her comments.
“To all of you Snikes Lying will not make you a better Hindu,” she quipped, using a pejorative term for hypocritical fundamentalists. “I have never endorsed any movie poster or mentioned the word ‘smoking.’
“Bring it, BJP!” she added. “I am Abed Kali. I am not afraid of anything. Not your ignorance. Not your fools. Not your police. And certainly not your trolls. The truth does not need supporting forces.”
Muitra proceeded to unfollow the official account of the TMC party on Twitter, indicating some harsh feelings between her and the party leadership.
