On Sunday (July 10), Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to Goddess Kali as ‘Maa’ during a virtual address at an event conducted by the Ramakrishna Mission.
The event was organised to mark the centennial birth anniversary of the 15th President of Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Atmasthananda. The development comes amidst the ongoing row over the objectionable portrayal of the Hindu deity by director Leena Manimekalai.
PM Modi stated, “Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa was one such saint who had a vision of Maa Kali and had surrendered his whole being at the feet of Maa Kali. He used to say this whole world, everything is influenced by the consciousness of Goddess Kali. This consciousness is visible in the Kali Puja of Bengal.”
Soon after, former Weekend Editor of Hindustan Times, Kanika Gahlaut, went on an unhinged social media tirade against Prime Minister Modi for supposedly limiting the Hindu deity to the status of a ‘mother’.
“Why Narendra Modi is referring to (the) Hindu goddess Kali as Maa kali? She is a supreme goddess and can be worshipped in various ways not everyone has to see her as the maa kali,” she tweeted.
Thereafter, she attempted to label Hindus as misogynists for elevating women to the status of a mother or a wife. “Hindus have an obsession with turning every female into wife or mother. It’s extremely unhealthy and misogynist,” Kanika brazened it out.
The author of ‘Among The Chatterati’ then inquired whether Lord Shiva was ever referred to as a father figure or Papa.
After being called out for her ignorance about the Hindu religion, the former Hindustan Times journalist went into a defensive mode. She posted tweets after tweets in a failed bid to convince her readers.
“Shiv is Mahakaal, his consort Kali is MahaKaali. I like this story. I don’t know about mummy & all, people are free to see & worship their gods the way they like. This includes Leena Mahua & Modi. There should be no exemption, it’s unfair,” she tweeted on Monday (July 11).
“Just because Modi is a Hindu PM appointed by Hindus, he is not Bhagwan Krishna and his Hinduism is not everyone’s Hinduism,” Kanika Gahlaut continued her rant.
The invocation of Gaumutra to deride Hindu beliefs
After being quizzed by Hindu netizens about her contentious remarks, she attempted to shame them with ‘gaumutra jibes.’ “Don’t cry, drink gaumutra and be happy,” the journalist had retweeted a Hinduphobic joke by a pro-Islamist account named ‘I stand with Zubair.’
For a long time now, Hinduphobes have been using gaumutra barbs to deride Hindus and ridicule their beliefs. It has often been used by Islamist terrorists before attacking Indians, especially Hindus.
In 2019, a Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Muhammad terrorist in a suicide attack killed as many as 40 CRPF soldiers in Pulwama, Kashmir. Following the attack, a video was released in which the terrorist could be heard saying he wanted to punish and kill the ‘cow urine drinkers’ in the name of Allah.
The terrorist identified as Adil Ahmed Dar alias Waqas was seen admitting that he had joined the Jaish-e-Mohammad a year ago. In the video, he had referred to Indians as “Gae ka Peshab Peene Wale” (People who drink cow urine).
Former HT journalist plays the victim card
After her hollow arguments failed to make an impression on the netizens or thwart the criticism directed at her, Kanika Gahlaut sought to play the victim card.
“No one cares about majoritarian Twitter bullying by Hindutva trolls. They think their Low IQ bullying really makes a difference to our lives,” she said.
Kanika Gahlaut claimed, “Why Hindu gods are all Bhagwan literally meaning god & their consorts Hindu goddesses are maa or mother? Instead of trolling me why don’t Hindutva people answer the question? Kali goddess doesn’t have to be worshipped as ma that’s not the only way to worship her this is fact.”
It is notable here that in Hinduism, every Goddess is referred to as ‘Mother’. Hinduism is one of the last remaining religions on the earth that worships the ‘Sacred feminine’, be it in the form of the planet itself, as ‘Prithvi Mata’, or the very basis of the Universe’s energy, ‘Shakti’. Hindu Goddesses like Kali, Durga, Lakshmi etc are all considered the manifestations of ‘Shakti’, or the energy of the Universe.
