BJP leader calls Mamata eunuch for taking part in Islamic rituals
The BJP is fighting a storm of criticism in West Bengal after a state-level party leader described chief minister Mamata Banerjee as a “eunuch” for participating in Islamic religious rituals.
BJP leader Shyamapada Mondal made the reference while addressing a meeting in West Midnapore district of West Bengal on Monday.
“These days Mamata Banerjee is attending Namaz ,wearing hijabs and shouting ‘Allah Ho Akbar’ there. All these amount to drama. Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether the chief minister is a male or female. We come across eunuchs in trains. Our chief minister is such a eunuch,” he said.
This is not the first time that BJP leaders have showered abuses on the chief minister.
The ruling Trinamool Congress and other parties have called the comments as indicative of the BJP’s “rotten culture” and Kolkata’s transgender activists have condemned what they see as an undesirable attitude towards the community and a woman politician.
Lashing out at the BJP leader’s comment, Trinamool Congress secretary general and state education minister Partha Chatterjee said that such a culture was unthinkable in West Bengal. “Such comments are unheard of in the political culture of West Bengal. It is BJP who is trying to induct such rotten culture in the state,” Chatterjee told HT.
City-based activist Raina Roy also hit out at Mondal for the remarks. “Does he want to imply that the people of the transgender community are beggars? Stories of successes from the community are present in all professions. He should do some homework,” Raina said.