FIR against TMC MP Mahua Moitra for 'hurting religious sentiments of Sikkimese people'

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Sikkim has lodged a formal complaint against Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra "for hurting religious sentiments of Sikkimese people."

Yap Tshering Bhutia, who is the National Executive Member of the ST Morcha, has lodged his FIR at the Soreng police station against TMC MP Mahua Moitra over her comments at the India Today Conclave - East that was held in Kolkata on July 4 and 5.

The FIR has been lodged under section 295A for "deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs."

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has stirred a nationwide controversy by interpreting Goddess Kali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess. Taking part in India Today Conclave East held in Kolkata on July 5, she made the statement when asked about a film that had courted controversy after it had put up posters showing Goddess Kali smoking.

 “For me, Goddess Kali is a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess. 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,” she said.

 “When you go to Sikkim, you will see that they offer whiskey to Goddess Kaali. But if you go to Uttar Pradesh, and if you tell them that you offer whiskey to the goddess as ‘prasad’, they will call it blasphemy,” added Moitra.

 While Moitra’s party, Trinamool Congress distanced itself from her comments, the Opposition BJP has demanded her arrest for hurting religious sentiments.

Moitra has remained defiant saying that she never backed any film poster but stated only facts related to the worship of Goddess Kali.