Kolkata: Amid the ongoing controversy regarding Mahua Moitra's comment on goddess Kali and the subsequent backlash from the BJP, the TMC MP doubled down on her comment Wednesday, saying she was 'not afraid of anything'. "
"Jai Ma Kali! The goddess Bengalis worship is fearless & non-appeasing," she wrote on Twitter following with another tweet: "Bring it on BJP! Am a Kali worshipper. I am not afraid of anything. Not your ignoramuses. Not your goons. Not your police. And most certainly not your trolls. Truth doesn’t need back up forces."
The controversy erupted on July 4 after a poster of a Toronto-based filmmaker Leena Manimekalai's documentary “Kaali” showed the goddess smoking and holding an LGBTQ flag. The poster triggered widespread condemnation in India. When TMC MP was asked for a comment on the matter, she said, "Kaali to me is a meat-eating, alcohol-accepting goddess. You have the freedom to imagine your goddess." This kick-started a political slugfest across party lines.
Moitra unfollowed her party TMC's official Twitter account after it did not share the same view. On its official Twitter handle, TMC said, "The comments made by Mahua Moitra and her views expressed on Goddess Kali have been made in her personal capacity and are not endorsed by the party in any manner or form." However, she still follows TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
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Meanwhile, the firebrand MP's comment drew sharp reactions, with an FIR being registered against her in Madhya Pradesh. The case was registered in Bhopal by the crime branch under section 295A of the Indian Penal Code. "Moitra's statement has hurt religious feelings of Hindus. We will not tolerate disrespect to any Hindu Gods and Goddesses at any cost," said Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in a statement.
Congress MP for Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, meanwhile, said that he was 'taken aback' by the attacks on Moitra. "...am still taken aback by the attack on @MahuaMoitra for saying what every Hindu knows, that our forms of worship vary widely across the country. What devotees offer as bhog says more about them than about the goddess," he said on Twitter. Later, he further noted that "we have reached a stage where no one can say anything publicly about any aspect of religion without someone claiming to be offended."
Not one to let go of an opportunity to slander opposition parties, West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar slammed Moitra's comment for "insulting" goddess Kali and demanded her immediate arrest and suspension. "TMC can't detach itself from the comments of Mahua Moitra. If TMC actually doesn't endorse it, they should take action. They should either expel her or suspend her from the party for a few days," he said. BJP workers gathered at Bowbazar police station in Kolkata and sought Moitra's immediate arrest for the controversial comment.
