"Idiots don't understand Idioms": Mahua Moitra's jibe at BJP after her remarks on Amit Shah

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], August 31 (ANI): Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday, asserting that "idiots don't understand idioms" as she defended herself over her alleged "derogatory" remarks against Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The TMC MP clarified that her comments were "idiomatic" and accused the police of twisting her words.
An FIR was registered in Raipur's Mana Camp police station against Moitra under Sections 196 (promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.) and 197 (imputations prejudicial to national integration) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Moitra had allegedly said in Bengali that Shah's "head should be cut off" for failing to check the infiltration of illegal Bangladeshis into India. Her comments, reportedly made during a media interaction on Thursday, sparked widespread backlash nationwide.
Reacting to the controversy, the TMC leader clarified her use of Bengali expressions and said, "Similarly, in the Bengali language, 'matha kata jawa, we say lojjay matha kata chhe,' which means that 'you are so ashamed that you can cut your own head off. When we say matha kata jawa, matha ke tebi le rakha, it means taking accountability, owning responsibility. This is an idiom. Now, of course, idiots don't understand idioms, which is where we are."
Moitra said her words had been misinterpreted and that she was speaking in metaphors and idioms. She explained, "So in June of 2024, when the Lok Sabha results came out, an upke baar, 400 paar fell flat on its face. And the foreign media reported that the results, only 240 seats, was a slap in the face for Narendra Modi. Now, did the BJP's claim really fall flat on its face? No. Did someone go and slap the Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji on his face? No."
"Then everyone said that heads will roll. Did heads roll? Yes, they did. These are what in the English language are called idioms, right? When you say heads will roll, it refers to when kings used to cut the heads off of people who were disobedient. And when you cut the head off, it starts rolling. A beheaded head can only roll. So you don't really cut someone's head off. It's an idiom, it's a metaphor for accountability," Moitra further added.
Moitra hit out at the Chhattisgarh police, directly addressing the SP of Raipur and accusing officials of filing false cases. She recalled an earlier incident involving migrant workers and said, "Please do me a favour. Call your colleague. Why Anant Kumar, SP Kondagaon? On the 12th of July, he illegally picked up 12 migrant workers from Kondagaon, Bengali workers from my constituency, booked them under Section 128, falsely filed an FIR, booked them, beat them, arrested them, did not produce them in court, kept them illegally detained, and released them only on the 14th of July. I went to the Chhattisgarh High Court, which issued notice to you. Now, with your tail between your legs, another idiom, tail between your legs after getting a slap in the face, your colleague has withdrawn the case."
She also alleged that the FIR was based on a faulty Google translation, saying, "The FIR says, Mahua Moitra ne kaha gala kaat diya. I said, matha ke tebi le, that's a lot different from gala kaat diya. When you use Google Translate from Bengali to English and English to Hindi to file fake FIRs, this is what happens."
She warned that she would challenge the case in court, saying, "Are you done with filing of fake FIRs? I'm going to go to the court again, it will be another slap in the face and then more heads will roll."
Moitra also accused the BJP of trying to turn her into a "political victim". "So really, every time you do this, you do this stupidity of making a heroine out of me. You did this before; you expelled me from Parliament, and I won and came back. Every time you do this to me, politically it gets you nowhere, it makes me into Joan of Arc."
"Haven't you learnt your lesson? Let me be, because every time you try to fight me, you lose, and I win, and I come out stronger. So take your FIRs and keep them where the sun doesn't shine, and hopefully you'll get a better sense soon," the TMC MP said. (ANI)