A man was arrested by Nagaon Police in Assam after he was accused of hurting the sentiments of Hindus by dressing as Lord Shiva for political purposes. The man named Birinchi Bora and a female actress had dressed as Shiva and Parvati to enact to street play on the roads on Nagaon, where they had complained about price rise under the Modi government.
However, Hindu groups were not happy with this and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, BJYM and other Hindu groups protested against the act. Birinchi Bora was arrested and taken to Nagaon Sadar Police Station after the Hindu groups lodged a complaint against the actor accusing him of hurting religious sentiments and misusing religion for political purposes.
In the street play, Birinchi Bora and his co-actor Parishimita had dressed as Shiva and Parvati, and was riding a two-wheeler on a road. At the designated spot for the street play, the vehicle stops apparently because it ran out of fuel. What follows was an argument between Shiva and Parvati over the issue, where ‘Shiva’ starts to attack the Modi government over rising fuel prices and other issues.
‘Shiva’ says that while Modi had promised to bring fuel prices down, prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene have reached Rs 100. He said that from medicine to food to fuel, everything was cheaper earlier, but now prices of everything have gone up after the Modi govt came to power.
After the street play was over, Birinchi Bora talked to media, still in the role of Shiva. He continues to rant against Narendra Modi and his govt in his speech. He said, ‘We had sent Modi here, but he has been a failure, and we will need to send someone else in his place’. He alleged that the Narendra Modi govt has looted the people of India causing price rises. Some of his allegations were same as what the Congress party has been alleging against Modi govt.
The ‘Shiva’ appealed the public to come out to protest against the Narendra Modi government to get rid of rising prices.
The ‘Parvati’ Parishimita also talked to media saying that they did the skit to raise awareness among people on price rise. She said that as people will not listen to them otherwise, they decided to do the stunt by dressing as Shiva and Parvati.
The blatantly political speeches made by Birinchi ‘Shiva’ Bora had caused massive outrage among people, including Hindu groups like VHP and Bajrang Dal. But what made the matter worse was Bora’s comments in a WhatsApp chat, where he said that he did the stunt for money, and that he also mocked Hindu gods.
In the chat that went viral on Facebook, Birinchi Bora had informed someone that the video of his street play has been covered by news channels. When that person asked what is it about, he replied, ‘watch the news, today did lots of comedy on your Shiva Parvati’. He implied that Shiva and Parvati are not his Gods, as he referred to them as ‘your Shiva and Parvati’.
He also sent the video. Seeing the video, that person was outraged, and admonished Birinchi Bora for doing such a street play. To that, Bora replied that there is nothing wrong in it as anything can be done for money. When the person asked how can he stoop so low for money, Bora said that he has done a street play, and received money for that. He asked why he was jealous of him.
When the person asked why Bora mocked their Gods, and that a case will be filed for it, Birinchi Bora abused him. He also challenged that person to file the case first.
When this chat appeared on social media, outrage against Birinchi Bora reached its peak, and a case was filed against him by BJYM and other Hindu groups. Following the complaint, he was arrested and taken to the court.
However, he remained defiant even in custody. When the Hindu activists chanted Jai Shri Ram after he arrived the police station, he responded by chanting ‘Jai Aai Asom’ (Jai Mother Assam).
Till now it is not known who had paid him to do the street play against Narendra Modi govt while dressed as Shiva.
