Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra claimed on Wednesday that the BJP cadre had “threatened fish-eating Bengalis of Chittaranjan Park” in the national capital.
“Terrorising Hindu fishmongers into shutting legal shops next to a temple they built – BJP goons caught on video but not yet arrested. Hello @DelhiPolice- Or are we all supposed to eat dhoklas and chant Jai Shri Ram?” Moitra said in a post on X.
Moitra claimed that the BJP workers shut down fish and meat shops in southeast Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park, a Bengali-dominated area. She also shared on X a video purportedly showing the alleged incident. “Everybody has seen the horrifying visuals of the lumpen-BJP goons threatening the Bengalis in Chittaranjan Park in the heart of Delhi. Chittaranjan Park is a Bengali colony. Bengalis are a proud fish-eating people,” Moitra said in a video message posted on X on Wednesday.
“The Kali temple and the temples there were built by the community. And this particular temple is built by the shopkeepers and the business community of the Chittaranjan Park. You can see how in broad daylight with complete impunity and audacity. The BJP’s goons are threatening shopkeepers and telling them they cannot have shops here. Is the BJP going to tell us what we are going to eat and where we have legal shops? Is the BJP going to tell us that we have to eat dhoklas and say ‘Jai Shri Ram’ three times a day?” she added.
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However, BJP leader Amit Malviya has alleged that the video posted by the TMC MP is fake. The BJP leader cited a journalist’s report in which vendors purportedly claimed that they had not been threatened. “Mahua Moitra posted a video, ostensibly from CR Park in Delhi, alleging that certain individuals were threatening vendors in the DDA-approved fish market located next to a Mandir. The video is false and fabricated. It appears to have been shot with the intent to promote ill will among communities–and perhaps to distract from the ‘versatile international lady’ controversy that the TMC parliamentary party currently finds itself embroiled in. This has been debunked by a ground report conducted by journalist Shivam Pratap Singh. Regular devotees and vendors at the fish market have categorically denied any such intimidation,” Malviya said in a post on X. BJP Delhi President Virender Sachdeva has also issued a statement saying that the TMC MP should refrain from trying to stir communal tensions.
“Everyone should respect the sanctity of temples, and here at CR Park, fish market traders have always respected temples. Fish Markets have been legally alloted and need of the area. The fish traders maintain a high level of cleanliness in the area and take regular part in the socio-religious activities of CR Park. The video posted on social media by Smt. Mahua Moitra seems to have been tailored by people with vested political interests to disturb community harmony in CR Park. We strongly condemn the incident and request that the Delhi Police take stern action,” a press statement from the Delhi BJP President’s office said.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police said they did not receive any complaints, but the matter was under enquiry. In the clip posted by Moitra on X, a man dressed in a saffron t-shirt and jeans is heard saying it was wrong to set up a fish market next to a temple in Market No. 1 of Chittaranjan Park, popularly known as CR Park, one of the poshest areas of Delhi.