TMC MP Mahua Moitra has finally broken silence on the Kaali controversy. said that her stance is still the same and she won’t back out of this fight.

Mahua Moitra has received a lot of backflash after she said that she looks at Kaali as a meet eating and alcohol accepting goddess. Soon the MP was trolled on social media and soon several FIRs were also filed against her for hurting religious sentiments.

In a recent interaction with Indian Express, Mahua said that all the flaks she received was because of BJP’s fake sentiments. She also said that she still stands by what she said. “I am a Shakti worshipper and a devotee of Kali Ma. To me, she is accepting of meat and alcohol. Karonbari and Manghso Bhog is something that is intrinsic to her worship,” TMC MP said.

And finally, by making a strong statement, Mahua Moitra said that she is not going to tolerate this business of BJP’s homogenous faith, especially when everyone is scared to take on this narrative. “Moreover, I am a proud Bengali and a proud Indian, I will defend this till I die,” Mahua Moitra added.

Mahua Moitra also expressed her anger over people agreeing over a monolithic idea of Hinduism, where a political party gets to decide who and how our gods and goddesses should be worshipped. She also urged fellow Indians to take a stand against this and voice out their opinions.

When TMC MP Mahua Moitra was asked about whether she felt upset over her party distancing itself from her, she was quick to say ‘that’s not the case.’ She further added, “I am a foot soldier and ardent supporter. I am also a admire of my leader Mamta Banerjee and how she leads our political party. And that’s what keeps me motivated and happy.”

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Amidst the Kaali poster controversy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a statement. Without mentioning the controversy, PM Modi said that the country has the blessings of the Goddess Kaali and the way forward will be found only through the consciousness of the mother.

On the occasion of Swami Atmasthanand’s 100th birthday celebrations, Prime Minister Modi said, “Today, the world is talking about a sustainable lifestyle, a pure lifestyle; this is a field where India has thousands of years of knowledge and expertise.” Our country has long served as a global leader in this area. 

The prime minister continued by stating that Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa was a saint who had a clear vision of Maa Kali and had committed his entire life to serving Maa Kali. He used to say, “This entire world, this variable, everything is mother.” The religious beliefs of Bengal and the whole of India have the same consciousness.

Watch what PM Modi said on the Kaali controversy.

Who was Swami Atmasthananda?

He was an Indian Hindu monk, who was the fifteenth president of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.

Swami Atmasthanandaji Maharaj was born in May 1919, at Sabajpur near Dhaka and died on February 21, 2015, after prolonged illness at the age of 98.

He was given the “mantra diksha” by Sri Ramakrishna’s disciple Swami Vijnananandaji Maharaj in 1938, and at the age of 22, he joined the Ramakrishna Order at Belur Math in 1941.

In 1973, he was elected to the Ramakrishna Math trusteeship and to the Ramakrishna Mission’s governing council.

He was appointed an Assistant Secretary of the twin organizations in 1975.

He was also appointed Secretary of the Math and Mission’s aid efforts. Under his leadership, the Math and Mission carried out extensive relief and reconstruction projects in Bangladesh, Nepal, and India.

He was appointed general secretary of the Math and Mission in 1992, serving in that capacity until May 22, 1997, when he was elected vice-president of the Order.

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Amid ongoing controversy over the Kaali documentary poster, the senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday clarified that whatever he tweeted is his personal opinion.

His comments come a day after his Twitter post on Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra’s remarks on Goddess Kali. While her party, the Trinamool Congress, has distanced itself from its party MP terming it as her personal opinion.

Mahua Moitra is facing heat on social media days after erupting a huge controversy at a conclave when she said that she had every right as an individual to imagine goddess Kali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess.

Taking to Twitter, Tharoor said he does not have any other kind of opinion except personal. Quoting Alexander Hamilton, he also wrote those who stand for nothing, fall for anything. He had tweeted without making any reference.

While the BJP severely criticised Mahua Moitra and her party Trinamool Congress distanced itself from the comment and condemned it, the Lok Sabha MP got support from Shashi Tharoor who said Mahua Moitra was being attacked for saying something that every Hindu knows.

What devotees offer as bhog to the goddess says more about them than about the goddess, Tharoor had said.

At a time when Trinamool Congress publicly denounced Mahua Moitra’s statement that Kaali is a meat-loving and liquor-accepting goddess, Tharoor had said that he was taken aback by the attack on Moitra and urged everyone to lighten up and leave religion to individuals to practice privately.

A day after the TMC distanced itself from its party MP’s controversial remarks on Kaali, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has now broken her silence on the ongoing controversy and advised her that people make mistakes but they can be rectified.

Mahua Moitra, who is known for his fiery speech, is now facing a series of complaints for her comments on Goddess Kaali.

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Days after the Trinamool Congress distanced itself from its party MP Mahua Moitra’s controversial remarks on Kaali, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday broke out her silence on the ongoing controversy on Hindu Goddess Kaali.

People make mistakes but they can be rectified, Banerjee said, a day after Trinamool MP dared the BJP to prove that whatever she said is wrong.

Banerjee said that people make mistakes while working but they can be rectified. Some people don’t see all the good work and suddenly start shouting. Negativity affects our brain cells so let’s think positively, the West Bengal CM said at an event in Kolkata.

Mamata Banerjee’s advice to Mahua Moitra comes at a time when the TMC MP is facing a series of complaints for her comments on Goddess Kaali.

Moitra generated a huge controversy on July 5 at a conclave when she said that she had every right as an individual to imagine goddess Kali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess

Her remarks came in response to the latest outrage over a film poster that showed a woman dressed as goddess Kali smoking a cigarette and holding a pride flag.

Speaking on the controversial poster of a documentary film Kaali, Moitra had said that there are many forms of Kali and to her, Kali means a goddess who receives meat and wine.

There was an uproar across the country over her allegedly derogatory remarks on Kali. A case has been registered against Moitra in some cities including MP’s capital Bhopal. There are also growing demands for her arrest.

Distancing itself from Mahua Moitra’s remarks on Kali, the Trinamool Congress condemned the remarks and tweeted that Its MP’s remarks at the India Today Conclave on Kaali have been made in her personal capacity and are not endorsed by the party and in any manner or form.

It is the second time in six months that she has been publicly rebuked by her party leadership.

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Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra is receiving flak on social media after she commented on the ongoing Kaali controversy. Following a major backlash on social media, Mahua shared a poem titled Be Careful, Mahua! apparently written by a citizen of India.

The poem read, ‘Be careful, they said to her, you’ll end up getting jailed! Thank you for your concern, she said, But I think that ship has sailed.’

Have a look at Mahua Moitra’s tweet here:

What did Mahua Moitra comment on Goddess Kali?

The Trinamool Lok Sabha MP took part in the India Today media conclave on Tuesday. In the event, Moitra said that Goddess Kali, for her, is a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess. She also said that Sadhus in Tarapith, West Bengal smoke and that is the version of Kali people worship.

Read Also: Leena Manimekalai’s old tweets on PM Modi and Lord Ram go viral amid Kaali controversy

She has the right to imagine Kali in that way, that is her freedom, Mahua concluded.

Soon after her comment came to light, social media and several politicians slammed the TMC leader and asked her to apologise. However, Mahua Moitra refused to apologise for her comments on Goddess Kali and also slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that she doesn’t want to live in an India where the BJP’s monolithic patriarchal brahminical view of Hinduism will prevail.

The TMC West Bengal unfollowed Mahua Moitra on Twitter after her remark on Goddess Kali. Moreover, FIRs have been filed against her in Bhopal and Madhya Pradesh for outraging religious feelings.

Kaali controversy

Filmmaker Leela Manimekalai took the internet by storm after she shared the poster of her documentary film Kaali. The poster showed a woman dressed like Goddess Kali and smoking with an LGBTQ community flag.

FIRs have been registered against the filmmaker by the Delhi police and the Uttar Pradesh police for hurting religious sentiments. Twitter also removed the poster of Kaali from the platform.

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Toronto-based Kaali director Leena Manimekalai has been in trouble ever since she dropped the poster for her new documentary film. The poster shows a woman dressed as the Hindu Goddess Kaali and smoking a cigarette while holding a trident in one hand and an LGBTQ flag in the other. Her poster has drawn flak on social media for hurting the religious sentiments of a particular community.

Amid the Kaali controversy, Leena’s old tweets on PM Modi and Lord Ram are doing the rounds on the Internet. In 2013, a filmmaker tweeted that she will surrender her passport, ration card, pan card, and her citizenship if ever Modi becomes this country’s PM in her lifetime.

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Also in 2020, Leena commented on Lord Ram, where she wrote that Ram is not God. He is just a BJP-invented electronic voting machine. Her tweets spark outrage in the country and have evoked widespread condemnation on Twitter.

Leena shared the poster of her documentary film Kaali on social media platform on Saturday and wrote the film was part of the Rhythms of Canada segment at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. Soon after, people started condemning her act. She, however, urged people to watch the film to understand the context behind the poster.

Clarifying the motto behind this poster, she wrote that the film is about the events that occurred during Kaali’s stroll through the streets of Toronto one fine evening. If they watch the movie, they will put the hashtag “Love you, Leena Manimekalai” rather than “Arrest Leena Manimekalai,” she added.

The film hasn’t been released in India yet.

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With the aim to give out a progressive message to society, filmmakers today don’t hesitate to flaunt their artistic side as quick as a wink. But every film has to suffer social media scrutiny. Recently, filmmaker Leena Manimekalai took the internet by storm after she dropped the poster of her documentary film Kaali.

The poster shows a woman dressed up as Goddess Kali holding an LGBTQ flag and smoking. Following the release, Manimekalai and her poster were mercilessly trolled on social media and FIRs have been filed by the Delhi Police’s Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) wing and the Uttar Pradesh Police for hurting religious sentiments.

A section of people protesting against the poster has also demanded a ban on the film while a section has issued death threats to the director in India.

Vikram Bhatt on Kaali controversy

Amid the controversy, APN Live spoke to filmmaker Vikram Bhatt about social media policing and how it impacts a director’s artistic license. Speaking about the controversy, the filmmaker said, “I am a very religious man and I feel you should not hurt anyone’s feelings.”

“I pray to the Goddess. You are showing her smoking. Creative license, yes, by all means, but if you are going to hurt people’s feelings, they are going to hurt you back,” Bhatt continued.

Talking further on creative license, Vikram Bhatt said, “Creative license should be allowed both ways. What I condemn is violence. But if you come out and hurt me, and if you are on Twitter or Instagram, I am going to hurt you back.”

Vikram Bhatt is in the news for his reunion with Mahesh Bhatt for another horror-love story Judaa Hoke Bhi. The film features Akshay Oberoi and Aindrita Ray in lead roles and is due for release on July 15.

Speaking about his love for the horror genre, Bhatt said, “I actually have an intense love for the love story genre. If you notice, horror is always the villain in a love story in my films. And that’s why the songs in my films have always been good. That’s why I titled the film Judaa Hoke Bhi. It’s a love story with horror.”

Judaa Hoke Bhi also features Meherzan Mazda, Rushad Rana, Punit Tejwani, and Jia Mustafa in titular roles and it is the first Indian film to be shot entirely in virtual production.

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