Days after India took exception to the inappropriate depiction of Goddess Kali by Ukraine, its Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova on Tuesday expressed “regret” and said her country “respects unique Indian culture and highly appreciates support from India”.
She added the depiction had been removed. Her comments came after the tweet in question by the Ukraine Defence Ministry sparked outrage among netizens.
“We regret @DefenceU depicting #Hindu goddess #Kali in a distorted manner. #Ukraine & its people respect unique #Indian culture and highly appreciate support. The depiction has already been removed... Is determined to further increase cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect & friendship,” she tweeted.
This came after an image of a female above blast smoke was tweeted by the Ukraine defence ministry triggering outrage with social media users pointing out the resemblance of the image to the depiction of Goddess Kali.
On April 30, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry tweeted with the caption “Work of art,” and shared a picture of a blast with an improvised picture by Ukrainian artist Maksym Palenko.
In the picture, the artist depicted the blast in a unique yet offensive blend of famous American actress Marilyn Monroe in her ‘flying skirt’ pose with the face and detailing resembling Hindu Goddess “Maa Kali”.
Kanchan Gupta, senior advisor, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting called the image “an assault on Hindu sentiments”. Gupta was among the many netizens who demanded an apology from Ukraine over the image.
“Recently Ukraine Dy Foreign Minister was in Delhi soliciting support from India. Behind that fakery lurks the real face of Ukraine Govt. Indian goddess Ma Kali has been caricatured on a propaganda poster. This is an assault on Hindu sentiments around the world. @UkrembInd,” Gupta tweeted on April 30 while sharing the tweet by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence.
Gupta also said Ukraine has mocked “Goddess Kali in a manner no foreign government or country has ever done”.
He also branded the Ukraine ministry’s actions as “brazen hate speech”.
After posting the picture, the tweet triggered a massive backlash, forcing the Defence Ministry to delete the Twitter post. One Twitter user posted, “Shocking! Official handle of the Ukraine Defense Ministry is portraying Maa Kali in a demeaning pose. This is not a work of art. Our faith is not a matter of joke. Take it down and apologise @DefenceU” Meanwhile, another Twitter user said, “Hurting sentiments of 1.4 billion Indians is not Okay @DefenceU. This is a blatant display of Hinduphobia by Ukraine’s defence ministry. Please remove this.” Dzhaporava had recently visited India, the first visit by a Ukrainian minister to India since the start of the Ukraine war in February last year.
During the visit the Ukrainian minister held talks with Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakashi Lekhi. The Ukrainian minister handed over a letter from President Volodymr Zelenskyy addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Lekhi seeking India’s intervention in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict. The Ukraine defence ministry’s tweet, which has now been deleted, was captioned “Work of art” with an image of Goddess Kali superimposed over a blast fume. Some Twitter users even sought External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s intervention. “Please take note of this defamatory post that shows Maa Kali in a bad light,” a user said tagging Jaishankar.
“Absolutely disgraceful behaviour from @DefenceU (Defense of Ukraine) with their distasteful depiction mocking Maa Kali. India has given aid to Ukraine and this is how they repay them. Hindus demand an apology NOW,” another Twitter user wrote. “Shocking! The official handle of the Ukraine Defence Ministry portrays Maa Kali in a demeaning pose. This is not a work of art. Our faith is not a matter of joke. Take it down and apologise @DefenceU,” another user tweeted.
Since the Ukraine conflict began in February last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy several times. In a phone conversation with Zelenskyy on October 4 last year, Modi said there can be “no military solution” and that India is ready to contribute to any peace efforts.
