Bajrang Dal, BJP Workers In Bihar Burn Effigies Of TMC MP, Filmmaker For ‘Hurting Sentiments’

Members of the Bajrang Dal and the BJP in Bihar’s Nawada district on Thursday burnt effigies of TMC MP Mahua Moitra and the director of documentary film ‘Kaali’, Leena Manimekalai, claiming that they have hurt sentiments of the Hindu community.

Talking to reporters, Jitendra Pratap, the Bajrang Dal in-charge of Nawada, said “disrespect to any Hindu or Goddess will not be tolerated”.

“A large number of Bajrang Dal and BJP workers gathered at Prajatantra Chowk in Nawada to burn effigies of Mahua Moitra and Leena Manimekalai. Both of them hurt the beliefs of Hindus,” he said.

BJP Mahila Morcha district vice president, Madhavi Barnwal, who was also present at the protest site, told reporters that the poster of the film, which shows a woman dressed as Goddess Kali smoking a cigarette and holding a pride flag, was “quite objectionable”.

In Patna, BJP workers claimed that they had visited the Kotwali police station to file a complaint against the two women, but got snubbed.

“The station house officer (SHO) at Kotwali police station refused to accept our complaint. The cops misbehaved with us,” said senior state BJP leader Barun Kumar Singh. The personnel at the police station, however, declined to comment on the matter.

Moitra had on Tuesday kicked up a controversy at a conclave by saying that she had every right as an individual to imagine Goddess Kali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting deity, as each person had his or her unique way of offering prayers.

Manimekalai, too, faced criticism for the poster of her new film, with several FIRs lodged against her in Bihar as well as other states such as Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

(With PTI inputs)