Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra (File)A day after Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra’s remarks in Parliament about “a Jain boy in Ahmedabad” discreetly having a non-vegetarian dish from a street vendor, BJP leaders in the state, including party president CR Paatil, have hit back demanding her apology.
“Jainism is one of the oldest religions of the world. It teaches liberation and harmlessness. @MahuaMoitra, Please don’t drag Jainism into your so-called politics. we will not tolerate! Jai Jinendra!,” tweeted CR Paatil.
Chief minister Bhupendra Patel and his predecessor Vijay Rupani also sought an apology from the Trinamool Congress for Moitra’s comments. While CM Patel took to social media to point out that the TMC MP has hurt Jain sentiments, Rupani, a Jain himself, tweeted: “I strongly condemn the statement made by @MahuaMoitra of TMC (the party that has perpetrated widespread violence in the WB) about the Jain youth of Gujarat. She must not forget that the core foundation of Jainism is non-violence. TMC must render an apology over this insulting statement.”
He also tweeted a portion of Moitra’s speech where she can be heard saying about individual liberties being curbed by the Union government. “You fear a future India that is comfortable in its own skin, that is comfortable with conflicting realities. So you fear a future India where a Jain boy can hide from home and enjoy a kathi kabab on a street cart in Ahmedabad. So what do you do? You forbid non-vegetarian street food in Gujarat municipalities,” she had said in Parliament on February 3, referring to a campaign by a few political leaders in the municipal corporations (Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Junagadh and Bhavnagar) in Gujarat to prohibit vendors selling non-vegetarian food from operating on the main roads.
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