Idioms are not for Idiots: Mahua Moitra slams FIR filed in Chhattisgarh
New Delhi: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra has strongly criticised the FIR lodged against her in Chhattisgarh for her alleged remarks about Union Home Minister Amit Shah, saying her words were taken out of context and that she was only using idiomatic expressions.
A case was registered at Raipur’s Mana police station under Sections 196 and 197 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) following a complaint by a local resident who alleged that her comments were objectionable and harmful to national unity. Moitra had reportedly said that Shah’s “head should be cut off and placed on the table” if he failed to stop illegal infiltration from Bangladesh.
In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter), Moitra clarified that her remark was not literal and were idiomatic expressions. In her post, she wrote, “Idioms are not for Idiots. For those asking, here’s my reaction. @CG_Police you just got a slap in the face from HC for the last fake case you filed & withdrew with your tail between your legs. Stop listening to BJP Masters—you will only get egg on your face.”
She referred to the BJP’s 2024 election slogan ‘Abki Baar, 400 Paar’, which, she said, “fell flat on its face” after the party managed only around 240 seats. “Foreign media reported that the results were a slap on the face for the Prime Minister. Did anyone really slap him? No. Everyone also said, ‘heads will roll.’ Did heads literally roll? No. These are idioms, metaphors for accountability,” she explained.
Moitra went on to detail her use of expressions. “In English, when we say ‘heads will roll,’ it comes from the time when kings used to cut off the heads of disobedient subjects. A beheaded head can only roll. But it does not mean anyone is actually cutting heads off, it means accountability. Similarly, in Bengali we say matha kata jawa or lojjay matha kata jawa, meaning you are so ashamed that you ‘lose your head.’ Again, it is a figure of speech, not a call for violence,” she said.
She accused the Chhattisgarh police of misrepresenting her words. “The FIR says ‘Mahua Moitra ne kaha gala kaat diya.’ What I said was matha kete table-e, which is very different. This is what happens when you use Google Translate from Bengali to English and then to Hindi to file fake cases,” she remarked.
Moitra also recalled an incident in July in Kondagaon district, where she alleged that Superintendent of Police Y. Akshay Kumar had illegally detained 12 migrant Bengali workers from her constituency. According to her, they were picked up on July 12, falsely booked under Section 128, beaten, and not produced before a court. They were released only on July 14.
“I went to the Chhattisgarh High Court, which issued a notice. After that, the Kondagaon SP had to withdraw the FIR against the workers with his tail between his legs, another idiom. The same pattern is being repeated with me now,” she said.
The Krishnanagar MP also questioned how her remarks could be linked to national integration. “How is asking the Home Minister to take responsibility prejudicial to national integration? Every time you file these fake FIRs, it politically helps me more than it hurts,” she said.
Moitra argued that such actions only strengthened her position. “You expelled me from Parliament, and I came back. Every time you try to fight me, I end up stronger. You make a heroine out of me, like Joan of Arc,” she said in the video.
She also criticised the repeated cases being filed against her. “Take your FIRs and keep them where the sun doesn’t shine. Hopefully, better sense will prevail soon,” she said.
Idioms are not for Idiots. For those asking -here’s my reaction. @CG_Police you just got a slap in the face from HC for last fake case you filed & withdrew it with your tail between your legs. Stop listening to BJP Masters - you will only get egg on your face.@IndiaToday… pic.twitter.com/JyawSxmEd1
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) August 31, 2025
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NIA registers case to probe recovery of 79 crude bombs in poll-bound West Bengal
New Delhi (PTI): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday registered a case to probe recovery of 79 crude bombs in poll-bound West Bengal, officials said.
The move came following a directive by the Union Home Ministry in this regard, they said.
In pursuance to the home ministry's order, the anti-terror agency on Sunday registered a case, which was originally filed at Uttar Kashi police station, Bhangar division, Kolkata on Saturday, and took up the investigation, an NIA spokesperson said in a late night statement.
"The case pertains to recovery of 79 crude bombs and other incriminating materials by Kolkata police, which were being stored at a spot, thereby endangering human life and property," the spokesperson said.
Earlier in the day, the Election Commission had directed the West Bengal Police to launch a special drive to arrest those involved in illegal manufacturing of crude bombs in the poll-bound state, an official said.
It asserted that all cases related to the making of any such explosive would be probed by the National Investigation Agency, the official said.
The directive came after the police recovered a large number of crude bombs from the house of a person, allegedly a TMC worker, at Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district, days ahead of the second and final phase of the assembly polls in the state.
The explosives were recovered during a search at the residence of Rafikul Islam following specific inputs, the official said.
The poll panel also issued a warning to senior police officers across the state over any lapse in maintaining law and order before the April 29 polling.
The first phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal was held on April 23, while the second phase will take place on April 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.
A record 93.19 per cent turnout has been recorded in the first round of polling. Bhangar will vote in the second phase.
