The controversy over a poster of the film Kaali reached Ayodhya on Wednesday with one of the most prominent mahants issuing a threat to the filmmaker, asking her if she wanted to be beheaded.
Mahant Raju Das of Hanumangarhi said, “It is extremely objectionable for the film-maker to make fun of our sanatam dharma and Hindu Gods and Goddesses. What do you (the filmmaker) want? Do you want that your head should also be removed from your body (sar tan se juda kar diya jaye)? Is that your wish?”
The phrase ‘sar tan se juda’ was used by the miscreants who beheaded Kanhaiya Lal in Rajasthan's Udaipur with butcher knives for supporting BJP's former spokesperson Nupur Sharma's comments on Prophet Muhammad.
On July 3, Leena Manimekalai, a Madurai born filmmaker based in Toronto, had released the poster of her 30-minute documentary Kaali, which depicted the Goddess smoking and with the pride flag. The poster has now been taken off from her social media. She had initially said that she would invite all trolls to watch her documentary but, given the scale of criticism, pulled the poster off later. In an interview she was quoted as saying, “India is sinking of dark hole and bigotry”.
Das, who is close to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, has asked the home minister to intervene and ensure that the film is banned. “He should take the strictest possible action against the filmmaker,” Das said.
The mahant went on to tell the filmmaker that at present her crime was worthy of forgiveness, but if the administration did not take action, “….we (saints) would create a situation that they would be unable to handle”.
Das compared the situation to the Nupur Sharma incident. “She spoke the truth and there was a storm in the country and internationally. Should this grave act (the poster) be allowed to pass by without any objection. This is very wrong.”
