Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra is facing intense scrutiny and widespread condemnation after she seemingly agreed with a highly offensive and racist post targeting Indians celebrating Diwali abroad.
The controversy erupted when Moitra replied “I agree” to an inflammatory post on X (formerly Twitter) made by an unidentified user named “Nate.” The original post used racial slurs and called Diwali celebrations “retarded garbage” that was destroying Western countries.
The specific, unverified post read: “Just like that, we’ve let braindead fung Indians turn our beautiful Western countries into total shiholes with their retarded Diwali garbage that has zero to do with us.”
BJP Launches Scathing Attack
The screenshot of Moitra’s apparent endorsement immediately went viral, triggering accusations of “anti-India” and “anti-Hindu” bias. The BJP’s West Bengal unit was quick to issue a sharply worded official statement, linking the current controversy to the MP’s past controversial remarks.
The BJP statement accused Moitra of “repeatedly insulting Indian culture and Hindus,” asserting that this latest incident further proves her bias. They also linked her to previous political flashpoints, referencing her past description of Goddess Kali as a “goddess of meat and liquor,” and other controversial statements by TMC members on issues like Kashmir and alleged atrocities during Diwali celebrations in West Bengal.
“This is the same Mahua Moitra who believes Bangladesh is better than India and has compromised national security in exchange for luxury handbags,” the BJP unit wrote, escalating the political attack.
Moitra Calls It a ‘Genuine Mistake’
As the online outrage grew, Mahua Moitra issued a clarification on X, attempting to explain her action as an error.
“Just clarifying my Twitter feed was showing a lot of videos and I meant to say ‘I agree’ to a video just below the racist one by some Nate. My mistake. Travelling & didn’t check till now. Sorry trolls,” she wrote in her post.
The explanation, however, has done little to calm the social media storm. While some users came to her defence, accepting the ‘scrolling mistake’ as plausible, others remained deeply skeptical. One critical user sarcastically suggested, “Should’ve gone with ‘someone hacked my account’ or ‘intern had control and posted that tweet.’ Would’ve sold much better as a justification, just saying.”
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has yet to issue an official statement regarding the controversy.