Mahua Moitra, a member of the Indian parliament from the TMC party of West Bengal, was the subject of two criminal complaints filed by the ruling BJP party on Wednesday because she made “insulting” and “demeaning” comments about the Hindu goddess Kaali.
India is still dealing with protests sparked by a BJP spokeswoman making comments that were deemed insulting to Islam’s Mohammed.
The new blasphemy crisis erupted when Moitra, who describes herself as a practicing Hindu, was asked for her opinion of a deliberately provocative “performance documentary” film called Kaali by Canada-based writer and director Leena Manimekalai.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, at Parliament House on April 4, 2022 in New Delhi, India. (Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
The film, which debuted at the Rhythms of Canada festival in Toronto on Saturday, concerns the goddess appearing in modern-day Toronto and taking stock of contemporary culture.
Super thrilled to share the launch of my recent film – today at @AgaKhanMuseum as part of its “Rhythms of Canada”
Link: https://t.co/RAQimMt7LnI made this performance doc as a cohort of https://t.co/D5ywx1Y7Wu@YorkuAMPD @TorontoMet @YorkUFGS
Feeling pumped with my CREW❤️ pic.twitter.com/L8LDDnctC9
— Leena Manimekalai (@LeenaManimekali) July 2, 2022
Manimekalai, an ardent left-wing activist, advertised the film with a poster of Kaali smoking a cigarette and waving a gay pride flag. The movie evidently depicts her drinking alcohol and eating meat.
Kaali, also spelled Kali, would be able to do all of these things at once, since she has many arms, but angry Hindus said it was disrespectful for Manimekalai to show her doing any of them.
“According to the norms of the Sanatan Hindu dharma, Goddess Kali is never worshiped as a goddess who consumes alcohol or meat. Hindus have been revering Goddess Kali for ages as a symbol of power against evil,” BJP official Sukanta Majumdar explained.
The Hindus were especially outraged because India has been convulsed by Muslim riots ever since BJP spokeswoman Nupur Sharma made a comment about Prophet Muhammad’s child bride Aisha on a television talk show in late May:
Why are Hindu gods, goddesses and articles of faith mocked, ridiculed, demeaned at the altar of 'liberal creativity'? Must Hindus be punished for their tolerance? Aren't Hindus being forced to adopt a more hardline posture? https://t.co/B5wS8J7xJu
— Sreemoy Talukdar (@sreemoytalukdar) July 3, 2022
“Oh, so it’s acceptable to mock our religion, but not Islam?” was the tenor of the response from many Hindus. On Wednesday, a senior Hindu cleric named Raju Das mused that if Hindus wanted the same respect as Muslims, they ought to start beheading people for blasphemy.
Complaints were lodged against Manimekalai with police in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh over the weekend, charging the filmmaker with an “intentional act to hurt Hindu religious sentiments.”
On Tuesday, the Indian High Commission asked Canadian authorities to “withdraw provocative material” related to the Kaali film, particularly the controversial poster. The Indian commission said “several Hindu groups have approached authorities in Canada to take action.”
Indian-born Canadian Member of Parliament Chandra Arya expressed his disapproval of the Kaali poster and thanked the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto for offering a formal apology to offended Hindus:
Painful to see Kaali poster by filmmaker Leena Manimekalai.
Past few years, traditional anti-Hindu and anti-India groups in Canada have joined forces resulting in Hinduphobic articles in media & attacks on our Hindu temples.
Apology from @AgaKhanMuseum is welcome & appreciated— Chandra Arya (@AryaCanada) July 5, 2022
Manimekalai defiantly refused to apologize or censor her film. On Monday, she said she was unfazed by death threats: “I have nothing to lose. I want to be with a voice that speaks without fear of anything until it is [silenced]. If the price is my life, I will give it.”
“Kaali, the film, is all about choosing love and championing humanity. Trolls who are witch-hunting me are fueled by hate. They have nothing to do with faith. If they are patient enough to watch the film they might choose love. But that’s exactly why they want the film to be banned,” she said in an interview on Tuesday.
Manimekalai denounced the Hindu nationalist BJP party of India as a “fascist fundamentalist regime” that was only criticizing her film because it wants to “divide the people of this country and harvest the hate as votes.” She also accused BJP of slowly “brewing a genocide of minorities.”
Parliamentarian Mahua Moitra entered the controversy on Tuesday when she was asked about the Kaali poster at a media forum. She replied that she had no problem with it, arguing that each Hindu should have the freedom to interpret and worship their gods as they see fit.
“Within Hinduism, being a Kaali worshiper, I have the freedom to imagine my Kaali in that way,” Moitra said. “That is my freedom and I don’t think anyone’s sentiments should be hurt.”
“Kaali to me, is a meat-eating, alcohol-accepting goddess. You have the freedom to imagine your goddess. There are some places where whiskey is offered to gods and in some other places it would be blasphemy,” she continued.
Moitra, who got her start in the major India Congress opposition party before moving to TMC, was vociferously denounced by BJP leaders for her comments. Sukanta Majumdar, the BJP state president who explained that Kali is “never worshiped as a goddess who consumes alcohol and meat,” called for Moitra to not only be denounced and dismissed by her party, but arrested by the police.
Another parliamentarian, Suvendu Adhikari, played on the hypocrisy of the TMC party calling for Nupur Sharma to be arrested while indulging Moitra’s insult against 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 Mahua Moitra. There can’t be a different set of rules for BJP and TMC leaders. We will wait for ten days and then move the court,” Adhikari said.
TMC leaders distanced themselves from Moitra without officially reprimanding her or demanding her resignation, as BJP did with Nupur Sharma.
“The comments made by Mahua Moitra at the India Today Conclave East 2022, and her views expressed on Goddess Kaali, have been made in her personal capacity and are NOT ENDORSE BY THE PARTY in ANY MANNER OR FORM. All India Trinamool Congress strongly condemns such comments,” the party said through its Twitter account, with emphasis in the original.
“Most likely, an explanation will be sought from her, and she will be cautioned from making such remarks in the future,” a senior TMC leader suggested in an interview on Wednesday.
Moitra lashed back against her critics, accusing them of misrepresenting her comments.
“To all you sanghis – lying will NOT make you better Hindus,” she sneered, using a derogatory term for hypocritical fundamentalists. “I NEVER backed any film of poster or mentioned the word ‘smoking.’”
“Bring it on, BJP!” she added. “Am a Kali worshiper. I am not afraid of anything. Not your ignoramuses. Not your goons. Not your police. And most certainly not your trolls. Truth doesn’t need backup forces.”
Moitra proceeded to unfollow the official account of the TMC party on Twitter, implying some hard feelings between herself and party leadership.
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