A case has been filed against Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh for her recent remarks on Goddess Kali during a TV programme. According to news agency PTI, the Madhya Pradesh Police has filed an FIR against Moitra for allegedly hurting religious sentiments over her remark about Goddess Kaali.
Reacting to the news of cases being filed against her, Moitra tweeted, “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.”
Speaking at an event organised by a TV channel, Moitra had said that Kaali was a ‘meat-eating, alcohol accepting’ goddess because everyone has the freedom to worship deities however they see fit.
“And if you go to Tarapith (a major Shakti peeth in West Bengal’s Birbhum district), you will see sadhus smoking. That is the version of Kali people worship (there). I, within Hinduism, being a Kali worshipper, have the right to imagine Kali in that way; that is my freedom,” Mitra had said at a conclave organised by India Today.
The controversy over Goddess Kaali was triggered by filmmaker Leena Manimekalai, whose new documentary showed the Hindu diety smoking with an LGBT flag in the background. The poster of Manimekalai’s documentary had evoked angry reactions from Hindu groups in India. Reacting to the outrage, Manimekalai had said, “I have nothing to lose. I want to be with a voice that speaks without fear of anything until it is. If the price is my life, I will give it,”
The topic of hurting religious sentiments has become a controversial issue in India in the recent past. At least two persons have been killed in Rajasthan and Maharashtra for showing their support to suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her remarks for Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).