New Delhi: Lawmaker Mahua Moitra of Trinamool Congress on Tuesday said Goddess Kaali to her was a meat-eating alcohol taking goddess.
Moitra was reacting to the roiling controversy over Canadian filmmaker Leena Manimekalai's movie poster depicting goddess Kaali as smoking cigarette, according to India Today.
Joining conversations at India Today Conclave East 2022, Moitra said in some places whiskey is offered to gods and in some other places it is a blasphemy, adding that one has the freedom to imagine one's goddess.
Moitra's comments come in the thick of a raging controversy after a poster of a documentary film brought out by filmmaker Leena Manimekalai went viral on social media with Hindu communities in Canada protesting against it.
After Hindu community raised protest against 'smoking Kaali' poster, the Indian High Commission urged the Canadian authorities to withdraw the "provocative material".
Leena Manimekalai's movie poster has a woman dressed up in the costume of Goddess Kaali smoking a cigarette as well as holding a trident in one hand, and a LGBTQ+ pride flag in another.
Afterwards, a hashtag #ArrestLeenaManimekalai trending on the social media sought the arrest of the Madurai-born filmmaker.
In the heat of the protest, the High Commission stepped in asking authorities to withdraw the post.
The High Commission added that it received complaints from leaders of the Hindu community in Canada against "disrespectful" depiction of Hindu Gods.