New Delhi. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Emine Dzheppar on Tuesday has taken to social media to apologise for her country’s Ministry of Defence’s offensive tweet about Maa Kali. After massive backlash from Indians on social media, the ministry removed the tweet.
Emine Dzheppar said Ukraine “regrets” the defence ministry’s depiction of goddess Kali in a “distorted manner” and that the European country “respects unique Indian culture and highly appreciates support from India”.
“We regret @DefenceU depicting #Hindu goddess #Kali in distorted manner. #Ukraine & its people respect unique #Indian culture & highly appreciate support. The depiction has already been removed. Ukraine is determined to further increase cooperation in spirit of mutual respect & friendship,” said the minister.
This comes a day after the tweet in question sparked outrage among netizens. Kanchan Gupta, senior advisor, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting called the image “an assault on Hindu sentiments”.
Indians had slammed the Ukraine government, saying it is insulting a Hindu goddess widely worshipped in the country after seeking help from India. The defence ministry’s tweet had come just days after Emine Dzheppar visited India. She was the first high-ranking Ukrainian official to visit India ever since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in February, 2022.
Emine had met Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi and handed her a letter from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking India’s intervention in the Russia-Ukraine war.
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’.