- Thursday, March 13, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
IT’S another controversy snowballing in India over the poster of a film by an Indian filmmaker showing Goddess Kaali smoking, parliamentarian Mahua Moitra has faced a backlash from the country’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for allegedly insulting the goddess.
The Hindu right-wing BJP on Tuesday (6) lodged two complaints against the Trinamool Congress (TMC) member of parliament from the eastern Indian state of West Bengal accusing her of making a statement without knowing anything about the Hindu religion and religious belief. Bengal BJP leader Rajarshi Lahiri said Moitra made her remark to demean Goddess Kaali.
Meanwhile, Moitra, who made her remark at a media conclave in state capital Kolkata where she said that Goddess Kaali is a “meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess” as every person has the right to worship god in their own way. “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.
Have you watched the video professors of whatsapp university? pic.twitter.com/VM7mELcsM8
— Vikash Tripathi कट्टर हिन्दू(TPN) (@VikashMTripa) July 5, 2022
Her party later distanced herself from Moitra and condemned her remarks. She appeared to have unfollowed her party’s official handle later. The firebrand leader also hit out at her BJP critics tweeting, “To all you sanghis – lying will NOT make you better Hindus. I NEVER backed any film or poster or mentioned the word smoking. Suggest you visit my Maa Kali in Tarapith to see what food & drink is offered as bhog. Joy Ma Tara.”
To all you sanghis- lying will NOT make you better hindus.
I NEVER backed any film or poster or mentioned the word smoking.Suggest you visit my Maa Kali in Tarapith to see what food & drink is offered as bhog.
Joy Ma Tara— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) July 5, 2022
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.
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) July 6, 2022
The comments made by @MahuaMoitra at the #IndiaTodayConclaveEast2022 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.
All India Trinamool Congress strongly condemns such comments.
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) July 5, 2022
Moitra is an Indian politician who represents Bengal’s Krishnanagar constituency in the Lok Sabha or lower house of the Indian parliament since 2019. The 47-year-old leader had earlier served as a Bengal state legislator representing Karimpur and has also been the TMC’s general secretary and national spokesperson for some years. She was also the party’s in-charge of the state of Goa ahead of its assembly elections held earlier this year.
Moitra, who is known for her strong views and oratory skills, was an investment banker before joining politics. Born in the state of Assam, she did her schooling in Kolkata and graduated in economics and mathematics from Mount Holyoke College South Hadley in Massachusetts, the US, in 1998. She worked for JPMorgan Chase in New York City and London.
In 2009, she quit as the vice-president at JPMorgan Chase in London to join politics in India. She first joined the Indian Youth Congress, the youth wing of India’s Indian National Congress, but shifted to the TMC which is led by Mamata Banerjee in 2010. She first became a legislator in 2016 when she won the election from Karimpur in Bengal.
A Hindu Brahmin, Moitra is not new to controversies. While she has been a vocal critic of prime minister Narendra Modi’s government and party, there have also been situations earlier when Moitra’s remarks did not find endorsement from her party, like in December 2020 when she slammed the media as “2 paisa press” and faced a backlash over it.
