Kaali Poster Row Kaali poster row: TMC distances itself from Mahua Moitra's remark on goddess Kali
Kolkata/IBNS: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has jumped to distance itself from its firebrand Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra's reference to Kali as a "meat-eating, alcohol-accepting goddess" amid the controversy over a film poster portraying Kali as a cigarette smoker.
Speaking at the India Today Conclave East 2022, Moitra, who is an MP from West Bengal's Krishnanagar, said Tuesday, "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."
Mamata Banerjee and Mahua Moitra | Image Credit: Facebook/Mahua Moitra
Distancing itself from the remark, the ruling party of West Bengal has put up a tweet which reads, "The comments made by @MahuaMoitra at the #IndiaTodayConclaveEast2022 and her views expressed on Goddess Kali have been made in her personal capacity and are NOT ENDORSED BY THE PARTY in ANY MANNER OR FORM.
"All India Trinamool Congress strongly condemns such comments."
The comments made by @MahuaMoitra at the #IndiaTodayConclaveEast2022 and her views expressed on Goddess Kali have been made in her personal capacity and are NOT ENDORSED BY THE PARTY in ANY MANNER OR FORM.
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) July 5, 2022
All India Trinamool Congress strongly condemns such comments.
The poster of a documentary titled Kaali is creating quite a stir online for showing the Hindu goddess Kaali smoking a cigarette.
It all started after the director, Leena Manimekalai, shared the poster of the film on Twitter.
Super thrilled to share the launch of my recent film - today at @AgaKhanMuseum as part of its “Rhythms of Canada”
— Leena Manimekalai (@LeenaManimekali) July 2, 2022
Link: https://t.co/RAQimMt7Ln
I made this performance doc as a cohort of https://t.co/D5ywx1Y7Wu@YorkuAMPD @TorontoMet @YorkUFGS
Feeling pumped with my CREW pic.twitter.com/L8LDDnctC9
The poster shows a woman, dressed in a Goddess Kaali costume, smoking a cigarette.
Apart from her usual accoutrements of trishul (trident) and sickle, the actor playing the goddess is also shown wielding the LGBTQ+ community's pride flag.
In the same conclave, another TMC MP Nusrat Jahan, who is an actor by profession, Monday said she believes creativity should not be mixed with religion while responding to the row stirred by a film poster featuring goddess Kali smoking a cigarette.
Nusrat Jahan
Jahan said, "Let's not pull religion again and make it saleable. It's good to sit in your home and watch this masala. Look, I have always supported creativity and individuality. Having said that, I also believe religious sentiments shouldn't be hurt."
"If someone is coming up with something creative, you decide and then take responsibility for your own actions as well. As far as I am concerned, I would never hurt anyone's religious sentiments or mix creativity and religion," the TMC MP from West Bengal's Basirhat constituency added.
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