Mahua Moitra booked on BJP worker’s complaint

New Delhi: Chhattisgarh Police Saturday booked Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra for her remarks aimed at Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The FIR was filed at the Mana Camp police station in the Raipur police district based on a complaint from a local worker of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who alleged that for the first time, a Member of Parliament, had ‘threatened’ a home minister.

Section 196 outlines the punishment for offences that promote enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and for acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony. Section 197 deals with offences such as imputations and assertions prejudicial to national integration.

Speaking to the press Thursday in West Bengal’s Nadia, Moitra had questioned the ruling BJP on the issue of infiltration, stating that the onus to curb cross-border infiltration is on the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), under Shah. She said Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave out a call against cross-border infiltration in his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort while Shah was standing in the first row and clapping.

“If we don’t have anyone to protect our borders, if citizens of another country infiltrate in huge numbers every single day, and if our citizens complain that they are seeing our mothers and sisters in a bad light and the infiltrators are snatching their lands—then the first thing you should do is cut Amit Shah’s head and put it on your table,” she said.

Adding, in Bangla, “When the home ministry and home minister can’t protect the borders of the nation, Prime Minister himself is saying infiltrators are looking at our mothers and sisters in a bad light and taking away our lands, who is at fault? The fault is ours or yours?”

Two days later, BJP’s Samanto approached the police, alleging Moitra had challenged the federal structure of the country and that her statement could spur hatred towards the Bengali community in the country.

“This is the first time that an MP elected to the country’s highest body, Parliament, has given such a statement related to loss of life against the country’s Home Minister. This is a warning to all peace-loving citizens that whoever talks about Bangladeshi infiltration will have to pay the price of their life. Sir, in this letter, I would also like to mention that I myself come from the Bengal community and am proud of the fact that our society has made an exceptional contribution in the country’s freedom struggle, art, literature and science, etc. and due to which our society is receiving special love and respect in the entire region,” Samanto alleged in the complaint which formed the basis of the FIR. 

“Due to this statement of Mahua Moitra, there is a fear that hatred will arise among the people towards the Bengali community and in future, criminal incidents against the people of the Bengali community may also increase. Therefore, by immediately bringing such individuals before the law of the country, they should be prevented from putting the lives of lakhs of people at risk for their own political gain. This is also an open challenge to the Constitution of the country where a democratically elected MP is talking about damaging the federal structure of the country,” he alleged.

ThePrint reached Moitra for comment via calls and text but had not received any response by the time of publication. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.

Moitra had in a post on X on 29 August termed these developments a campaign against her by the “BJP troll cell”.

Modus operandi of BJP troll cell – pick one issue, give it to all resident twits ( & an “a” instead of an “i” would be just as well) & make it “viral “ on social media. Today’s theme is Mahua Moitra’s Off With His Head metaphor. Long live my infamy, guys. Love it.

— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) August 29, 2025

(edited by Amrtansh Arora)

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