Recently, a documentary screened in Toronto depicting Kalimata smoking a cigarette by Leena Manimekalai went viral on social media. Who is Leena Manimekalai? 

Leena has become the latest leftist to slander and vilify Hindus and their gods by making a movie smearing the identity of Kaali Mata. This comes when Muslims are going on a rampage, killing and murdering people worldwide for measly statements against the religion while berating their religions at will, something Leena has drawn inspiration for.

Her freedom of speech and overzealousness to mock Hindus emanates from the knowledge that the slightest abuse towards another religion would result in her immediate death, akin to the scores of Hindus murdered for merely supporting Nupur Sharma, including Kanhaiya Lal and Umesh Kohle recently.

An FIR has been filed against director Leena Manimekalai by the Uttar Pradesh Police for deliberately hurting religious sentiments by sharing a poster of her new documentary film ‘Kaali’; in the poster, a woman dressed as the Goddess is shown smoking a cigarette. Also, a flag of the LGBT community can be seen in the background. The Delhi Police IFSO unit filed an FIR under IPC sections 153A and 295A.

Soon after facing flak over her Kaali poster, she took to Twitter to defend herself. She wrote, "I have nothing to lose. I want to be with a voice that speaks without fear of anything until it is. If the price is my life, I will give it." 

Also, the High Commission of India in Ottawa released a statement on Leena Manimekalai’s film KAALI whose poster shows Goddess Kaali smoking.

Poster of ‘Kaali’ 

Who is Leena Manimekalai?

Leena Manimekalai belongs to  the Maharajapuram village in Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar. To her credit, she has internationally acclaimed films Madathi and Sengadal the Dead Sea.

She hails from the Srivilliputtur region. In 1995, she completed her secondary school at the Holy Cross Convent. Leena completed an EU Fellowship in Media and Conflict Resolution in 2005. In 2012, she graduated from The School of Oriental and African Studies with a degree in visual ethnography. She is currently settled in Canada. She also owns the Leena Manimekalai Productions.

Since September 2011, she has been a Charles Wallace Visiting Scholar at the University of London. From March 2013 to April 2013, Leena was an artist at the University of Chicago. The person she is dating is Yesvand Rajendran. He makes sculptures. Leena is a local Chennai, was born in Tamil Nadu, and is a Hindu by religion.

Leena’s 45-minute documentary “Mathamma,” which she directed in 2003, documents the custom of dedicating a girl child to a deity in Mangattucheri, a neighborhood in Arokonam, Chennai.

However, this is not the first time Leena Manimekalai has found herself amidst a controversy. In the past, the filmmaker made it to the headlines for her films, but for all the wrong reasons.

Leena Manimekalai released her first feature film ‘Sengadal’ in 2011. The film was based on the fishers of Dhanushkodi. There was a lot of controversy regarding this film; the ruckus increased so much that the film was delayed for longer. Leena also landed in a legal soup for the film.

Not only this, but Leena Manimekalai’s film was also refused a certificate by the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The board said many derogatory and political remarks had been made in Sengadal on the Indian and Sri Lankan governments. 

Another film that Leena Manimekalai created was ‘White Van Stories.’ The documentary revolved around the families of those who disappeared in the North, East, and South Provinces of Sri Lanka. This film, too, found itself surrounded by controversies.

Leena Manimekalai supported the Church-backed, foreign-funded Koondamkulam Nuclear Power Plant protest. India's Intelligence Bureau said the organizer of the protest SP Udaykumar got funds from foreign countries. 

Leena Manimekalai is a leftist feminist whose documentaries revolve around caste and gender. She is seen here giving an interview to H Raja (Joseph) Swamy of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA. Who is Raja Joseph Swamy? 

Raja Joseph Swamy is a card-carrying member of the American-based Forum of Inquilabi Leftists (FOIL). FOIL members run many anti-Hindu, and anti-India 'NGOs.' They are connected to Pakistan's ISI. 

Raja Joseph Swamy is a founding member of India Civil Watch International (ICWI), a left diasporic org. Along with Equality Labs, they promote casteism to target #Hindus and lobby for Bhima Khoregaon 'activists' release.

ICWI earlier ICW (India Civil Watch) is seen with Jamat-e-Islami fronts like IAMC, Christian groups like Dalit Solidarity Forum (DSF), Christian Persecution International, HfHR, SAHI, USCIRF, International commission for Dalit Rights (ICDR).