FIR registered against TMC MP Mahua Moitra for 'objectionable' remarks against Amit Shah

A first information report (FIR) has been registered against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in Chhattisgarh's Raipur for her alleged "objectionable" remarks against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, police said on Sunday. Based on a complaint lodged by a local resident, a case was registered against Moitra at the Mana police station on Saturday under sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) and 197 (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), an official said. TMC MP Mahua Moitra had triggered a fresh political controversy with her remarks against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing him of failing to check infiltration from Bangladesh and allegedly stating his "head should be cut off and put on the table." The BJP, which was quick to hit back, slammed Moitra for her "distasteful and hate remarks" and wondered whether it was TMC's official stand.

Moitra alleged that the Union government was shirking its responsibilities on border security. "They are repeatedly talking about infiltrators; but the border of India is protected by five forces, and that is directly the Home Ministry's responsibility," she said. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day address, she remarked, "Standing at Red Fort, the PM himself said infiltrators are causing demographic changes. But even as he was saying this, his Home Minister was standing in the front row, smiling and clapping." She then launched a personal attack on Shah, alleging, "If we don't have anyone to protect our borders, if people from another country are entering every day, if our citizens complain that infiltrators are eyeing our mothers and sisters and snatching our lands, then the first thing you should do is cut Amit Shah's head and put it on your table."

The Krishnanagar MP also said, "When the home ministry and home minister cannot protect the nation's borders, and the PM himself says infiltrators are troubling our people, then who is at fault? Is it our fault? Or yours?"

Moitra also questioned why infiltration continues despite the presence of the Border Security Force along the frontier.

Her comments have triggered a furore, with the BJP filing a complaint in Krishnanagar's Kotwali police station.