An FIR has been filed against Trinamul Congress leader Mahua Moitra for her comments on Goddess Kali at a media event, alleging that she had hurt religious feelings.
"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 tweeted on Wednesday after BJP leader Jiten Chatterjee filed the complaint, reports ndtv.com.
On Tuesday, Moitra stirred a controversy with her remarks that she has every right as "an individual to imagine Goddess Kali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess", as every person has the right to worship god and goddess in his or her own way.
The Trinamul leader was speaking at India Today conclave in Calcutta and has clarified that her comments, made in the context of a discussion on a film poster shared by filmmaker Leena Manimekalai featuring the Goddess smoking, were being twisted by trolls.
While the BJP severely criticised Moitra and asked if it was the official stand of West Bengal's ruling party to insult Hindu gods and goddesses, the TMC distanced itself from the comment and condemned it.
Subsequently, it was reported that the MP had unfollowed the TMC on Twitter.
At the conclave, the MP had said that she had every right as an individual to imagine Goddess Kali as a "meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess" as every person has the right to worship God in their own way.
"If you go to Bhutan or Sikkim, for example, when they do puja, they give whisky to their god. Now, if you go to Uttar Pradesh and say that you give whisky to your god as prasad, they will say that is blasphemous," she said, making her point.
"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," said Moitra.
"I have the freedom to do it (envision a meat-eating goddess) as much as you have the freedom to worship your god as vegetarian and white-clothed."
Her party, the Trinamul Congress, condemned the remarks and disowned them.
"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," the party tweeted.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said he was "taken aback by the attack" on Moitra for her comments on Goddess Kaali, and urged people to "lighten up and leave religion" to individuals to practice privately, reports PTI.
Reacting to the row, Tharoor said on Twitter, "I am no stranger to malicious manufactured controversy, but 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 (offering) says more about them than about the goddess".
"We have reached a stage where no one can say anything publicly about any aspect of religion without someone claiming to be offended. It's obvious that @MahuaMoitra wasn't trying to offend anyone. I urge every1 to lighten up & leave religion to individuals to practice privately," he said.
