Kamala Harris Criticised After Niece Shares Photo of Her as Durga

The sketch also depicted Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden as the lion and President Trump as “Mahishasura”.

A tweet by the niece of American Vice Presidential candidate for the Democratic Party Kamala Harris, has triggered significant outrage among the Hindu community in the US, as well as in India.

Sharing a sketch depicting Kamala Harris as Hindu Goddess Durga, 35-year-old Meena Harris tweeted: "I am actually speechless, other than to say that the first day of Navaratri was LIT."

The sketch also depicted Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden as the lion and President Trump as the buffalo demon “Mahishasura”.

The tweet has since been deleted.

Reacting to Meena Harris’s tweet, Suhag A Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, tweeted guidelines for commercial use of “Hindu Images”.

Dear @meenaharris, by now you know that your tweeting a caricature of the feminine divine, Maa Durga, with faces superimposed, deeply aggrieved many Hindus globally.

To avoid such an error in judgement, for future reference, please refer to: https://t.co/yXBRCE4xcw

— Suhag A. Shukla (@SuhagAShukla) October 18, 2020

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According to NDTV, Rishi Bhatuda of the Hindu American Political Action committee sought an apology from Meena Harris and said:

“Our religious iconography should not be used in the service of politics in America -- I said the same when the Fort Bend County GOP did it in an ad in 2018, and it holds the same here.”   

Others hit out at Kamala Harris for the sketch shared by her niece.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris wished Navratri to the Hindu community in the US and abroad.