Indian Embassy in Canada Lodges Complaint Over Poster Showing Hindu Goddess Kali 'Smoking'

On Monday, a Toronto-based filmmaker of Indian origin unveiled a poster for her film which showed an actress dressed up as the goddess Kali, and smoking a cigarette, offending the religious sentiments of Hindus.

The Indian High Commission in Ottawa has urged the organizer of a Canadian film festival to remove a film poster depicting the Hindu goddess Kali "smoking".

The Indian High Commission in Ottawa, 🇨🇦 issues a Press Release about the Disrespectful depiction of Hindu Gods on the poster of a Film showcased at the Aga Khan Museum Toronto.
The 🇮🇳 High Commission has requested Canadian authorities to remove such provocative material Great ! pic.twitter.com/NVS8eGEJUt

— TimelessTigress (@SweetBandit108) July 4, 2022

The development comes in the wake of social media uproar which erupted over Leena Manimekalai's new film 'Kaali'.

The film was screened at the 'Rhythms of Canada Festival' as part of the 'Under the Tent' project at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. The festival ran between 28 June and 3 July.

Super thrilled to share the launch of my recent film - today at @AgaKhanMuseum as part of its “Rhythms of Canada”
Link: https://t.co/RAQimMt7Ln

I made this performance doc as a cohort of https://t.co/D5ywx1Y7Wu@YorkuAMPD @TorontoMet @YorkUFGS

Feeling pumped with my CREW❤️ pic.twitter.com/L8LDDnctC9

— Leena Manimekalai (@LeenaManimekali) July 2, 2022

"We have received complaints from leaders of the Hindu community in Canada about the disrespectful depiction of Hindu gods on the poster … Our Consulate-General in Toronto has conveyed these concerns to the event organizers," the embassy said.

"We are also informed that several Hindu groups have approached authorities in Canada to take action," the High Commission said in a press release, urging the Canadian authorities and the event organizers "to withdraw all such provocative material".

On Monday, two complaints were filed with the Delhi Police against Toronto-based filmmaker Manimekalai.

Her tweet led to a massive uproar on social media, with netizens accusing her of offending religious sentiments and demanding that the Indian-born director who was trending on Twitter be arrested.

One social media user said the poster was "insulting" the Hindu goddess but another said "it was mind-numbingly derogatory".

Activist Rahul Easwar has called it a "hate poster" and stated that "this is spreading hate against the Hindu community and defaming our deities".