Opinion
Two Religious controversies Two
Views in India
Syed Ali Mujtaba
While Nurpur Sharma incensed the
feelings of the Muslims by her remarks against the Prophet, purposefully tarring
his image, Leena Manimekalai demeaned Kaali, one of the most revered deities of
the Hindu religion, through the poster of her documentary film.
Although the government of India
took measures to douse the flames lit up by the BJP functionary, no BJP leader
or Sangh Parivar or Hindu religious heads uttered a word of condemnation
against the Hindu hate monger. Their conspiracy of silence has given support
to Nupur Sharma’s diatribe, which is a new normal in India.
However, when the Supreme Court of
India made some scathing remarks against a female hate monger, more than 100
eminent citizens of the country including Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju
hauled the Supreme Court judge for his unnecessary comments about Ms. Sharma.
Their attack on the judge inadvertently sounded as if they are supporting Nupur
Sharma’s words against the Prophet of Islam.
The scene changes to Canada and
the spotlight focuses on the poster of the film Kaali, released by its director
of Leena Manimekalai, and the entire discourse of hurting the religious
sentiments change from the Muslims (they) and Hindus (we).
A hell gets to let loose in India
and sermons are being given; “Liberty comes along with sensitivity, freedom
comes along with responsibility, can we live in the world without being
sensitive, respectful, and responsible,” demanding the arrest of the filmmaker
Leena Manimekalai.
A forceful narrative is built in
India that Leena Manimekalai has hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindus.
There is a cacophony to arrest Manimekalai from Canada and bring her to India,
while Indian citizen Nupur Sharma is shielded in some safe heaven to avoid
probable arrest. These are two parameters to judge two religious controversies
in India. Means, its wearer alone knows where the shoe pinches!
The fact is religious
controversy fails to die down in India. Close on the heels of the Prophet
Mohammad controversy, the Kaali controversy is raging now in India. At the
center of this controversy is the poster of the documentary film Kaali, where a
woman is dressed as the Hindu goddess Kaali and is seen smoking a cigarette and
holding a Trishul in one hand and a Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
(LGBTQ) flag in the other.
The Madurai-born, Toronto-based
filmmaker Leena Manimekalai posted a tweet about her documentary film ‘Kaali’
and shared the poster of her movie. In her tweet, she said; “Super thrilled to
share the launch of my recent film at Aga Khan Museum as part of its ‘Rhythms
of Canada Film Festival and I am excited about it”…
This poster created a huge buzz on
social media and invited a backlash in India. This led Indian High Commission
in Canada to urge the Canadian authorities to withdraw the poster that was
showcased as part of the ‘Under the Tent’ project at the Aga Khan Museum,
Toronto. The museum authorities deeply regretted the disrespectful depiction of
Hindu Gods and said if it inadvertently causes offense to the Hindu faith it
can immediately withdraw the poster.
The micro-blogging site, Twitter
also removed the poster saying that the tweet from Ms. Manimekalai has been
withheld in India in response to a legal demand.
Ms. Manimekalai, reacting to
Twitter removing her film’s poster, asked if Twitter would also withhold the
tweets of the hate mongers as well. “This is hilarious. Will Twitter 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,”
Manimekalai tweeted on the micro-blogging site.
Back in India, the religious
outrage was vented through scores of complaints in the police stations, seeking
Manimekalai's arrest. A large number of complaints were filed for hurting the
religious sentiments of Hindus. The complainants said the Manimekalai’s poster
depicts Goddess Kaali in a manner “unacceptable by any Hindu” and that it was a
“deliberate distortion of the Hindu religion and culture with malicious intent
to insult Hindu religious feelings”.
Jumping into the controversy was
TMC MP Mohua Moitra who reportedly said that she had every right as an
individual to imagine Goddess Kali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting
deity, as each person had his or her unique way of offering prayers.
This led to another round of
outrage against the TMC MP. No less than 56 complaints were filed against
Moitra in West Bengal alone, seeking her immediate arrest. Suvendu Adhikari the
BJP and leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly said, “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
and there can’t be a different set of rules for BJP and TMC leaders.”
Meanwhile, some FIRs were filed
against Ms. Moitra in Madhya Pradesh, a BJP-ruled state. Madhya Pradesh Chief
Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “Hindu religious sentiments have been hurt
by Mahua Moitra’s statement and insult of Hindu deities will not be tolerated
at any cost.”
Ms. Mahua Moitra facing attacks
from the BJP reacted, “truth doesn’t need backup forces, I am a worshipper of
Kaali, and not afraid of saffron “goons.” The ruling TMC distanced itself
from Ms. Moitra’s comments, even as the controversy rages on.
Another angle of the Kaali
controversy that has emerged is a contest between the people who worship Kaali
as straight nosed, thin-lipped, baby-faced, fair-complexioned deity
against those who worship her with darker skin tone, broad nose with the world
view of Kaali as a raw, non-apologetic, having an identity of her own kind of
deity.
The Kaali poster outraged the feelings
mostly in the North Indian states calling it blasphemous and hurting religious
sentiments. Those who worship Kaali as a baby-faced, calm goddess do not like
the worshiper of the same goddesses who smoke a cigarette, love booze,
drink blood and eat meat and epitomize Maha Kaali in every sense. The
north-South divide is the subtle theme in the Kaali controversy that is raging
on in the country.
This bizarre narrative is going on
in tandem with an anti-Muslim diatribe in India. While on one hand, some Indians
want to teach Muslims a lesson or two, the same folks want to do the same to
the South Indians too. This is new India, the “Post-Truth India – The
Brand New Republic” welcoming you on board.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist
based in Chennai. His forthcoming book is “Post-Truth India – The Brand New
Republic.” He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com.
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