FIR lodged against Mahua Moitra in Assam for ‘Gogoi’ tweet

Guwahati, Jul 16 (IANS): An FIR has been filed against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in Assam for ‘insulting the sentiments of the Assamese people.

The police complaint was lodged by Jatiya Sangrami Sena, Asom, in Sivsagar district on Friday, demanding unconditional apology from Moitra for relating the ‘Gogoi’ surname to sexual harassment in a tweet.

In the FIR, Pranab Chetia, President of the organisation’s Sivasagar unit, wrote: “It has been observed that her (Moitra’s) Twitter comment is deliberately replacing the word sexual harassment with the word Mr. Gogoi, which is a clear intention to defame and disregard an established ethnic community of Assam, and hence I urge the law of the land to protect the sanctity, integrity and respect of the Ahom community and bring Mohua Moitra to justice.”

The Trinamool Lok Sabha MP sparked a row when she posted on her Twitter handle: “My first of new Twitter series on replacements for unparliamentary words. Banned word – Sexual Harassment Replacement – Mr. Gogoi.”

Mahua was referring to the row erupted over the reported ‘banning’ of some words from use in the Parliament, though the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla categorically denied that any such change has been made

Moitra’s tweet irked many netizens in Assam as the surname Gogoi is very common within the Ahom community of the state.

National award-winning movie critic Utpal Borpujari openly criticized Moitra for her remarks and advised her to mention the name of the specific person whom she had in mind.

Later, in another tweet, the Trinamool MP wrote: “Just for those sanghis twisting tweet to say I targeted all Gogois, let me spell it out: Mister Ranjan Gogoi. Honorable MP, Rajya Sabha.”