Kaali Filmmaker Leena Manimekalai Faces Death Threats Over Controversial Poster Of Hindu Goddess

A Toronto-based filmmaker says she has received a barrage of death threats and abuse from Hindu nationalists in India after she portrayed the goddess Kali smoking a cigarette. The image, which appeared on a poster for her independent film “Kaali,” has sparked a nationwide debate in India, with politicians, diplomats and local police among those accusing director Leena Manimekalai of offending religious sentiments. The film, which uses an alternative English spelling of the gods’ name, was among 18 works intended to explore multiculturalism in Metropolitan University of Toronto’s “Under the Tent” exhibit at the Aga Khan Museum. Described as a “performance documentary,” it imagines the Hindu goddess “descending to a queer female director” and seeing Canada — and its diverse people — through her eyes, Manimekalai explained. “It is a free spirit. It spits out patriarchy. It abolishes Hindutva (an ideology that seeks to turn secular India into a Hindu nation). It destroys capitalism. It embraces everyone with a thousand arms.” Kali “chooses love” and accepts a cigarette from “the working-class residents,” Manimekalai added in an email. A promotional poster, which features the director dressed as Kali, shows the Hindu goddess smoking and holding up a rainbow flag, a symbol of the LGBTQ community. Manimekalai, who hails from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is currently a graduate student at Toronto’s York University, shared the poster on Twitter on Saturday. It soon went viral, prompting furious responses from some Indian social media users — many of whom called for her arrest. Within days, tens of thousands of tweets had appeared with the hashtag #ArrestLeenaManimekalai. In a statement released on Monday, the Indian High Commission in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, urged the country’s authorities to “take action” against what it called a “disrespectful portrayal”. The Aga Khan Museum — having screened an excerpt of the film over the weekend — subsequently announced that Manimekalai’s work was “no longer on display.” His accompanying social media post caused unintentional offense to members of the Hindu and other religious communities,” the museum said in a statement on Tuesday. The Metropolitan University of Toronto also distanced itself from the film, expressing “regret” that it “caused offence”. In a statement, the school added: “We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, while respecting the diversity of beliefs and opinions in our society.” Manimekalai expressed her dismay at the two institutions, accusing them of “trading academic freedom and artistic freedom to save their skins”. “It is sad to see these institutions operating in a sovereign country like Canada bow to the international imposition of the totalitarian narrative of Hindutva and the relentless suppression of free expression.” The controversy continued throughout the week in televised debates, where critics argued that Manimekalai’s portrayal had denigrated a holy figure. MPs in India have also weighed in, with Vinit Goenka, a spokesman for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) calling the image “an insult to all Indians”. Indian-born Canadian politician Chandra Arya also expressed concern, tweeting that seeing the poster was “painful”. though Manimekalai said she has not been served with any official notice.

Abuse torrent

The filmmaker blames the angry online response on what she called a “mercenary troll army” of BJP supporters and right-wing nationalists. She said members of her film crew have received abuse, while family and friends have also received online abuse. Manimekalai claims she has been subjected to “hate traffic” from thousands of social media accounts. Dozens of screenshots, shared with CNN by the director, appear to show threats of violence, including direct death threats. In the state of Uttar Pradesh, Hindu religious leader Mahant Raju Das posted a video threatening to behead the filmmaker. Meanwhile, the Times of India reported on Thursday that police in Tamil Nadu arrested a woman over another video containing threats against the director. The controversy is one of a growing number of cases in which depictions of Hindu gods have attracted accusations of religious insensitivity — from Nestlé withdrawing KitKat chocolate wrappers featuring various deities to Rihanna facing backlash for posing topless with a Ganesha pendant. Kali, the Hindu goddess of death, time and doom, is worshiped throughout India. Shiva’s wife, she is often depicted as blue or black, with a long tongue and many arms. Giant statue of the Hindu goddess Kail in a Hindu temple in Kadaloor, Tamil Nadu, India. Credit: Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto/Getty Images Manimekalai maintains that the depiction of the goddess is in line with her own religious interpretation. “In rural Tamil Nadu, the state I come from… he eats meat cooked with goat’s blood, drinks (the alcoholic drink) arrack, smokes bendi and dances wildly,” he said, adding that this is the version of Kali that “I grew up with …I have embodied in the film”. Manimekalai is planning to complete a directorial cut of ‘Kaali’, with a view to screening it at film festivals. “I will continue to make art,” he said. Top Image Caption: A photo by the filmmaker.

title: " Kaali Filmmaker Leena Manimekalai Faces Death Threats Over Controversial Poster Of Hindu Goddess " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-17” author: “Bryan Cordova”

A Toronto-based filmmaker says she has received a barrage of death threats and abuse from Hindu nationalists in India after she portrayed the goddess Kali smoking a cigarette. The image, which appeared on a poster for her independent film “Kaali,” has sparked a nationwide debate in India, with politicians, diplomats and local police among those accusing director Leena Manimekalai of offending religious sentiments. The film, which uses an alternative English spelling of the gods’ name, was among 18 works intended to explore multiculturalism in Metropolitan University of Toronto’s “Under the Tent” exhibit at the Aga Khan Museum. Described as a “performance documentary,” it imagines the Hindu goddess “descending to a queer female director” and seeing Canada — and its diverse people — through her eyes, Manimekalai explained. “It is a free spirit. It spits out patriarchy. It abolishes Hindutva (an ideology that seeks to turn secular India into a Hindu nation). It destroys capitalism. It embraces everyone with a thousand arms.” Kali “chooses love” and accepts a cigarette from “the working-class residents,” Manimekalai added in an email. A promotional poster, which features the director dressed as Kali, shows the Hindu goddess smoking and holding up a rainbow flag, a symbol of the LGBTQ community. Manimekalai, who hails from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is currently a graduate student at Toronto’s York University, shared the poster on Twitter on Saturday. It soon went viral, prompting furious responses from some Indian social media users — many of whom called for her arrest. Within days, tens of thousands of tweets had appeared with the hashtag #ArrestLeenaManimekalai. In a statement released on Monday, the Indian High Commission in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, urged the country’s authorities to “take action” against what it called a “disrespectful portrayal”. The Aga Khan Museum — having screened an excerpt of the film over the weekend — subsequently announced that Manimekalai’s work was “no longer on display.” His accompanying social media post caused unintentional offense to members of the Hindu and other religious communities,” the museum said in a statement on Tuesday. The Metropolitan University of Toronto also distanced itself from the film, expressing “regret” that it “caused offence”. In a statement, the school added: “We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, while respecting the diversity of beliefs and opinions in our society.” Manimekalai expressed her dismay at the two institutions, accusing them of “trading academic freedom and artistic freedom to save their skins”. “It is sad to see these institutions operating in a sovereign country like Canada bow to the international imposition of the totalitarian narrative of Hindutva and the relentless suppression of free expression.” The controversy continued throughout the week in televised debates, where critics argued that Manimekalai’s portrayal had denigrated a holy figure. MPs in India have also weighed in, with Vinit Goenka, a spokesman for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) calling the image “an insult to all Indians”. Indian-born Canadian politician Chandra Arya also expressed concern, tweeting that seeing the poster was “painful”. though Manimekalai said she has not been served with any official notice.

Abuse torrent

The filmmaker blames the angry online response on what she called a “mercenary troll army” of BJP supporters and right-wing nationalists. She said members of her film crew have received abuse, while family and friends have also received online abuse. Manimekalai claims she has been subjected to “hate traffic” from thousands of social media accounts. Dozens of screenshots, shared with CNN by the director, appear to show threats of violence, including direct death threats. In the state of Uttar Pradesh, Hindu religious leader Mahant Raju Das posted a video threatening to behead the filmmaker. Meanwhile, the Times of India reported on Thursday that police in Tamil Nadu arrested a woman over another video containing threats against the director. The controversy is one of a growing number of cases in which depictions of Hindu gods have attracted accusations of religious insensitivity — from Nestlé withdrawing KitKat chocolate wrappers featuring various deities to Rihanna facing backlash for posing topless with a Ganesha pendant. Kali, the Hindu goddess of death, time and doom, is worshiped throughout India. Shiva’s wife, she is often depicted as blue or black, with a long tongue and many arms. Giant statue of the Hindu goddess Kail in a Hindu temple in Kadaloor, Tamil Nadu, India. Credit: Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto/Getty Images Manimekalai maintains that the depiction of the goddess is in line with her own religious interpretation. “In rural Tamil Nadu, the state I come from… he eats meat cooked with goat’s blood, drinks (the alcoholic drink) arrack, smokes bendi and dances wildly,” he said, adding that this is the version of Kali that “I grew up with …I have embodied in the film”. Manimekalai is planning to complete a directorial cut of ‘Kaali’, with a view to screening it at film festivals. “I will continue to make art,” he said. Top Image Caption: A photo by the filmmaker.