Everyones Talking About Mahua Moitra. Here's Everything You Need to Know About This West Bengal MP
Her scathing speech is winning major points on social media. We dug a little deeper to know the woman behind the powerful voice.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker and first-time female MP, Mahua Moitra, is garnering praise for her rousing speech in the parliament yesterday. In her maiden speech, the 44-year-old pointed out “seven danger signs of early fascism in this country.”
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But, who is Mahua Moitra? We dug a little deeper to get all the deets on her.
She has a degree in mathematics and economics from the Massachusetts’ Mount Holyoke College, USA, where she pursued her higher education. Before embarking on her political journey, Mahua worked as an investment banker with JP Morgan. In 2009, she quit her job in London and returned to West Bengal. She started off with a short stint with the Indian National Congress before moving on to TMC.
In 2016, she contested for her first election in the assembly polls and won. Not a lot of people are aware that Mahua has filed three petitions against the Modi government for snooping in on our social media accounts. The first one’s against UIDAI, which monitors social media accounts to understand the general consensus on Aadhar. The second one’s against the Ministry of Home Affairs for permitting 10 government agencies to intercept, monitor, and decrypt any computer as a preventive measure. The third petition was filed to put a hold on the government’s surveillance of computers in West Bengal.
But she catapulted to fame when she delivered a scathing speech at the parliament yesterday. Here’s what she said:
“The first sign: there is a powerful and continuing nationalism that is being sphered into our national fabric. It is superficial, it is xenophobic, it is narrow. It has a lust to divide. It is not a desire to unite. Citizens are being thrown out of their homes and are being called illegal immigrants. People who have lived in this country for 50 years have to show a piece of paper to prove they are Indians. In a country where ministers cannot produce degrees to show that they graduated from college, you expect disposed poor people to show papers as proof that they belong to this country?”
“The second sign: there is resounding disdain for human rights that is permeating in every level of governance. There has been a ten-fold increase in the number of hate crimes between 2014 and 2019. 10X. This is like the valuation of an e-commerce start-up, Sir. There are forces in this country that are sitting there just pushing this number up. The lynching of citizens in broad daylight is being condoned. From Pehlu Khan in Rajasthan last year to Mr Ansari in Jharkhand yesterday, the list is not stopping.”
“The third sign: there is an unimaginable subjugation and control of mass media today. Five of the largest news media organizations in India are today either indirectly controlled or indirectly debted to one man in this country. TV channels spent a majority of airtime broadcasting propaganda for the ruling party. Coverage of every Opposition party is cut out. Let the government come out with facts and figures to show ad-spend per media house. What are they spending the money on and which media houses are they blocking out?”
“The fourth sign is that there is an obsession with national security – identification of enemies. When we were children our mother used to tell us to do this and do that or kala bhoot will come. It is as though all of us in this country today are in fear of some nameless, shameless kala bhoot. There is fear pervading everywhere. The achievements of the army are being usurped in the name of one man. Is this correct?”
The fifth sign is that the government and religion are now intertwined in this country. Do I even need to speak about this? Need I remind you that we have redefined what it means to be a citizen? With the NRC and the Citizenship Amendment Bill we are making sure that there is only one community that is the target of anti-immigration laws.
“The sixth sign is the most dangerous. There is complete disdain for intellectuals and the arts. There is a repression of all dissent, funding is being cut for liberal education, scientific temperament which is enshrined in Article 51 of the Constitution. There is Article 51 of the Constitution, which demands a scientific temperament. Everything we are doing is pushing India back to the dark ages. Secondary school textbooks are being manipulated and distorted in order to indoctrinate.You don’t even tolerate questioning, let alone dissent.”
“Number seven, the last sign; there is an erosion of independence in our electoral system. The Election Commission was used to transfer key officials. Rs 60,000 crore was spent in this election; 50 percent by one party, Rs 27,000 crore.”
You can watch the full video here: