Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Thursday claimed that the BJP wishing Hindus on the new year is ‘radicalisation’.
Vikram Samvat 2078, the new year as per Hindu calendar began on 1st day of Chaitra Navratri on 12th April 2021. A lot of Hindus celebrate the new year which begins on the first day of Chaitra month. Similarly, a lot of Hindus, especially in Gujarat, celebrate their new year which begins on the first day of Kartik month, a day after Diwali. Hence, different communities within Hinduism celebrate different days of the year as new year. Similarly, in different parts of India, the Hindu calendar months also vary. While in some parts of the country it is Chaitra, in some, Vaishakha has also begun today (which is new year for people in Bengal, Assam and Tripura).
However, this seems to have triggered Moitra, who was upset that the BJP was wishing the Hindus for their new year. So much that she called the wishes as ‘radicalisation’.
Making it all about the Bengalis, she claimed that the greetings for new year in West Bengal and Bangladesh is ‘Poila Baisakh’ and not ‘Hindu new year’ (since West Bengal and Bangladesh have similar cultures and Bangladesh is an Islamic country).
Netizens took it upon themselves to school Moitra on celebrating the Hindu new year is not really ‘radicalisation’ as she believes it is.
Mahua, your linguistic radicalization is complete. The first day of Baisakh ("Poila" for you, "Pahili" for me) is celebrated as a new year in many parts of the country including Odisha.
— BIRABAR NANDA (@brknanda) April 15, 2021
'Hindu New Year' means new year according to Hindu calendar, or Indian calendar. Pity you, can't think anything beyond communal radicalisation. The Khisiyani billi of #TMC
— Dev Ghoshal (@GhoshalDev) April 15, 2021
Some even explained that while people in Bangladesh also celebrate Poila Baishakh, it is actually Hindus who celebrate it as such.
2/n Therefore the wishes by the party is in my view is correct and respectful to other faiths. It simply convey best wishes for bengali hindu new year. No contradiction.
— SubhashC (@anand1subhash) April 15, 2021
Many even called out her ignorance on Hinduism.
Happy Hindu New Year, Mohua. I'm a Bengali, but a Hindu first. Upstarts like you will go the Siraj-ud-Daulah way, too high on haughtiness, too low on heft. Your ignorant of the India riding beneath your feet, & such ignorants are junked in the dustbin of time. Jai Shri Ram.
— Subhojeet Roy (@subhojeetroy) April 15, 2021
While Moitra wanted to paint everyone who was celebrating the Hindu new year as ‘radical’, the hate for Hindus was actually more evident in her tweet.