Kaali poster row: 'I NEVER backed any film,' TMC MP Mahua Moitra reacts to backlash on her statement

TMC MP Mahua Moitra said that she did not back any movie poster when she spoke about Goddess Kaali at an event.

Pic Credit: File Photo

New Delhi: After All India Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra expressed her views on Goddess Kaali at a recent event, she received a lot of backlash on it including from her own party TMC. Most people were under the impression that Mahua was speaking about Goddess Kaali in relation to the ongoing controversy surrounding the movie poster of a Canadian-based filmmaker Leena Manimekalai. The director's film poster was criticised for depicting a woman dressed as Goddess Kaali, holding a cigarette. 

Clearing the air, Moitra took to Twitter to say that she was not talking about the movie poster and did not back it. "To all you sanghis - lying will NOT make you better hindus. I NEVER backed any film or poster or mentioned the word smoking. Suggest you visit my Maa Kali in Tarapith to see what food & drink is offered as bhog. Joy Ma Tara," she tweeted.

To all you sanghis- lying will NOT make you better hindus.
I NEVER backed any film or poster or mentioned the word smoking.

Suggest you visit my Maa Kali in Tarapith to see what food & drink is offered as bhog.
Joy Ma Tara

— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) July 5, 2022

Earlier, Moitra made headlines when at India Today Conclave, she said, "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 further said that there are different religious offerings and rituals in different regions. "When you go to Sikkim, you will see that they offer whiskey to Goddess Kali. But if you will go to Uttar Pradesh and if you tell them that you offer whiskey to the goddess as ‘prasad’, they will call it blasphemy," she explained.

What is the Kaali poster row?

Earlier, today, the Uttar Pradesh police registered an FIR on charges of criminal conspiracy, offence in place of worship, deliberately hurting religious sentiments, and intention to provoke breach of peace against filmmaker Leena Manimekalai for her movie 'Kaali' for the disrespectful depiction of Hindu Gods. The controversy erupted after she took to Twitter to share a poster of her film which depicted a woman dressed in a costume portraying the Goddess and smoking. A flag of the LGBT community is seen in the background.