As an FIR was registered against Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra in Chhattisgarh over her alleged remarks on Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the West Bengal unit of the BJP on Sunday accused the Krishnanagar MP of “insulting” the Scheduled Caste Matua community and “hurting the religious sentiments of Sanatanis”. The TMC MP hit back, saying Sanatan Dharma has been “leased out” to the BJP so that the party could “peddle” it for its benefit. “BJP leaders are the only Hindus certified to speak on behalf of all Hindus. Sanatan Dharma has been leased out to them for an indefinite period, and they, in turn, can peddle it for their benefit. The rest of us are all lowly insects watching in awe at this amazing new version of BJP Hinduism,” Moitra told The Indian Express. Reacting to a video of TMC MP’s August 28 speech in Karimpur, BJP spokesperson Shatorupa said: “She has crossed all limits. After insulting the Union Home Minister, she has insulted the Sanatanis and Namasudras… Her remarks prove that (TMC supremo) Mamata Banerjee indulges in appeasement politics, which we have been saying time and again.” The Matuas are Namasudras, a Scheduled Caste group which migrated from present-day Bangladesh. In the video, Moitra is purportedly heard saying: “Throughout the year, you are Trinamool and during the elections, you are Sanatanis? What is this? A Scheduled Caste woman gets Rs 1,200 through the Laxmi Bhandar scheme …and in the SC/ST Namasudra booths, when the ballot boxes are opened, it is 85 votes for the BJP and 15 for other parties. Wearing wooden malas, all come to collect government doles, all have Swasthya Sathi cards and take Laxmi Bhandar benefits, but during the election, it’s the BJP.” BJP’s state legal co-incharge Tarunjyoti Tiwari said: “How can Moitra say that the doles given are by the TMC. It is actually the taxpayers’ money which is given to the common man… How can she say that one has to vote for the TMC because they take benefits of the state government schemes?” Accusing the TMC MP of hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus by calling the ‘Tulsi Mala' as “wooden malas”, Tiwari said: “This makes it clear that TMC is against the Hindus.” On Saturday, an FIR was registered against Moitra in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur for allegedly making “objectionable” remarks against Amit Shah. The case was filed on a complaint by Raipur resident Gopal Samanto. Moitra has been booked under BNS sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.) and 197 (imputations prejudicial to national integration), Raipur Superintendent of Police Lal Umed Singh said. The remarks were allegedly made by the TMC MP in Bengali during an interaction with the media on Thursday. She allegedly accused Shah of shirking his responsibilities on border security. Samanto, the complainant, told reporters that many Bangladeshi refugees have been living in Raipur’s Mana Camp area since 1971, and Moitra’s comments have created fear among them. He alleged that such statements could incite tensions between communities and disturb peace. In West Bengal, BJP leaders have filed police complaints against Moitra in Krishnanagar and Kolkata.
