Pro-TMC Matua outfit asks Mamata to censure Mahua for remarks on SC community

In a speech in Karimpur in Nadia district on August 28, Moitra, referring to the Matua community, reportedly said: “What kind of approach is this when one is with Trinamool Congress around the year, and then behaves like a traditional Hindu before the elections?.. A Scheduled Caste woman gets Rs 1,200 through the Laxmi Bhandar scheme …and in the SC/ST Namasudra booths, when the ballot boxes are opened, it is 85 votes for the BJP and 15 for other parties… When you need work, development schemes, or roads, you think of Mamata Banerjee. You come to collect allowance under different state development schemes, wearing wooden bracelets. Then what happens to you? I know that the video of my speech will go viral. I really do not care.”

The Matuas are Namasudras, a Scheduled Caste group, which migrated from present-day Bangladesh.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Sukesh Chowdhury, the general secretary of the Matua outfit who signed the letter to the CM, said, “We had earlier sent a message to Moitra through the media, asking her to withdraw her comments and apologise unconditionally. But she has refused to do so as yet. That is why we have written a letter to the chief minister on behalf of the All India Matua Mahasangh. We have faith in the chief minister that she will definitely intervene in the matter and censure Mahua for hurting the religious sentiments of the Matuas.”
A protest march was also held by the Matua outfit in Bangaon on Friday.

Mukul Biswas, chairman of the legal cell of the All India Matua Mahasangha, said, “Mamata Banerjee’s party is in trouble because of the repeated comments made by Mahua (Moitra)… The BJP does not get all the votes of Matuas. But after the comments made by Mahua Moitra, those who vote for the TMC are not sure whether to vote for the TMC or not in the Assembly elections due in a few months. She must apologise. Otherwise, it would affect the Matuas’ votes for the TMC. The BJP will benefit… She was close to (Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi… She took expensive gifts from big traders. Who can say she did not take the gift from the BJP?”

Biswas said that he will file a petition against the TMC MP in the Calcutta High Court “if she fails to apologise in the next 48 hours”.

After a video of Mahua Moitra’s speech went viral last month, the BJP had lodged police complaints against her across the state, especially in Matua-dominated areas. The BJP leaders accused her of “insulting” the Scheduled Caste Matua community and “hurting the religious sentiments of Sanatanis”.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Moitra had said that Sanatan Dharma has been “leased out” to the BJP so that the party could “peddle” it for its benefit.

“BJP leaders are the only Hindus certified to speak on behalf of all Hindus. Sanatan Dharma has been leased out to them for an indefinite period, and they, in turn, can peddle it for their benefit. The rest of us are all lowly insects watching in awe at this amazing new version of BJP Hinduism,” Moitra had said.