Kaali poster row: Twitter takes down Leena Manimekalai`s post, she says THIS

Filmmaker Leena Manimekalai`s controversial tweet, which has received major backlash ever since its release, showed a woman dressed as Goddess Kaali smoking.

Kaali poster row: Amid the ongoing Kaali poster row, microblogging site Twitter, where the outrage began initially, has removed the controversial July 2 tweet carrying Maa Kaali poster of filmmaker Leena Manimekalai. The controversial tweet, which has received major backlash ever since its released, showed a woman dressed as Goddess Kaali smoking and carrying an LGBTQ flag. Reacting to Twitter’s action, Leena, who has expressed no regret despite the backlash, in a tweet has asked the platform it takes strict actions against hate mongers and withholds their posts as well.

"This is hilarious. Will @TwitterIndia withhold the tweets of the 200000 hate mongers?! These lowlife trolls tweeted and spread the very same poster that they find objectionable. Kaali cannot be lynched. Kaali cannot be raped. Kaali cannot be destroyed. She is the goddess of death," she wrote.

However, it`s not clear when Twitter actually took the tweet down.

Kaali poster row: Defiant filmmaker Leena Manimekalai DOES THIS amid outrage

The original tweet has been replaced by a message from Twitter."This Tweet from @LeenaManimekali has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand," read the message.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has been booked for allegedly hurting religious sentiments after her comment on Goddess Kali stirred a controversy.

An FIR has been registered in Bhopal against Moitra under section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for hurting religious sentiments.

Kaali poster controversy

Amid the already tensed communal tensions over Udaipur beheading, a documentary poster displaying Goddess Kaali in poor light has poured fuel on the fire.

Twitter has reacted strongly after a documentary poster by the name of Kaali displayed Kaali Maa, an auspicious and resected Hindu deity often considered a mother figure, smoking a cigarette.

The poster was released by poet and filmmaker Leena Manimekalai on July 2 on Twitter and has been receiving severe backlash ever since. Twitter users argue that the poster hurt the religious sentiments of a large section of the Hindu community who consider Goddess Kaali their mother and reflects her in poor light.