A controversy has erupted involving Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra after she appeared to support a social media post in which racist and derogatory language was directed at Indians celebrating Diwali abroad. The post, which described Indians as "braindead" and their Diwali festivities as "retarded garbage," triggered widespread outrage online and strong condemnation from the BJP.
Moitra replied saying "I agree" to an inflammatory post on X (formerly Twitter) made by an unidentified user named "Nate." The post read: "Just like that, we've let braindead fung Indians turn our beautiful Western countries into total shitholes with their retarded Diwali garbage that has zero to do with us.**"
Within hours, screenshots of Moitra's apparent endorsement began circulating widely, leading to immediate accusations of "anti-India" and "anti-Hindu" bias.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s West Bengal unit issued a sharply worded statement accusing Moitra of "repeatedly insulting Indian culture and Hindus."
"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’s state unit wrote.
The statement went further, linking the controversy to Moitra’s past comments: "MPs from the Trinamool party consider Kashmir, an inseparable part of India, as 'Azad Kashmir,' find 'tourists' in terrorists, and under their rule in West Bengal, unspeakable atrocities are committed against women and children who dare to burst firecrackers during Diwali. In several places, Kali temples have been attacked simply because Hindus were performing Kali Puja. This is the same Mahua Moitra who once described Goddess Kali as a 'goddess of meat and liquor,'" the BJP said in its statement.
Facing mounting criticism, Moitra later issued a clarification on X, claiming her endorsement had been a "genuine mistake."
"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.
Moitra's explanation did little to calm the backlash. While some users accepted her clarification, others accused her of making excuses. One user commented sarcastically: "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."
However, others came to her defence. "Totally understandable - social media feeds move fast, and it's easy to click the wrong post while scrolling. Appreciate your honesty in clarifying it publicly. Real ones always own up instead of hiding. Stay strong, and don't let the trolls get to you," another user wrote.
Also read: 'Idiots don’t understand idioms', Mahua hits back at BJP
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