Meet Humayun Kabir the Bengal Trinamool Congress MLA and former Minister who has proposed to construct a brand new Babri Masjid at Beldanga block of Murshidabad district.
Kabir who had a few months ago courted controversy and escaped sans penalty for threatening to cut and throw a section of the population in the Bhagirathi river has said that he had made up plans to construct the Babri Masjid in his home town Beldanga. It is the same Beldanga that recently witnessed communal riots during Kartik Puja forcing the Government to suspend internet services and impose prohibitory orders.
"I will get constructed a new Babri Masjid in Murshidabad where 70 percent of the population is Muslim … the mosque will come up at Beldanga block near my home where Muslims enjoy an 80 percent majority," Kabir a former Minister who was recently reprimanded by his party leadership for speaking out of turn to project Abhishek Banerjee as Deputy Chief Minister "so as to ease pressure on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee," said.
Kabir's statement seems to be conspicuous by its timing even as it comes amid Bangladesh crisis when there was considerable heat on both sides of the international border.
The foundation stone of the proposed mosque will be laid on December 6, 2025 barely a few months before ahead of the Bengal Assembly elections in 2026. When asked as to whether December 6 fixed as the foundation laying day by him was coincidental or it bore a cloaked implication, he said things had been decided by a committee The TMC MLA said that the mosque would be constructed to cater to the sentiments of the 30 percent Muslim population of Bengal. The place would stand as a "symbol of pride" for the Muslim people of Bengal, he said.
Incidentally the Babri Mosque at Ayodhya was demolished by the Kar Sevaks on December 6, 1992 leading to a political turmoil. A decades' old title suit was subsequently settled by the Supreme Court following which a Ram Temple was constructed at the site and a separate Mosque was directed to be built a few miles away.
On resources Kabir said that he would personally donate Rs one crore towards the making of the mosque adding there would be no shortage of funds. "It will be constructed on a 2 acre land and a 100-member trust comprising Muslim religious leaders would be created for the purpose," he said adding the people would be asked to donate money for the purpose.
When asked whether the Chief Minister had been intimated about his designs he said, "Mamata Banerjee is our supreme leader and the Trinamool Congress is a secular political party of which I am a member … though the construction of the mosque is a purely religious affair we will definitely invite the Chief Minister to the programme."
Kabir is the same TMC MLA who had before the 2024 general elections had reminded the BJP that the Muslims constituted 70 percent of the population of Murshidabad and had said that "if they continue to show aggression then they would be cut and throw into the River Bhagirathi."
While none of the TMC leaders would react to Kabir's plans one of them saying, "the TMC does not interfere into anyone's personal religion," Bengal Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari slammed the Chief Minister for allowing the State to go into the hands of the "reactionary elements."
He said, "a few days ago her Cabinet colleague Siddiqullah Chowdhury had the audacity to praise Md Yunus of Bangladesh and attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi … and he went unpunished … and now this man is raising religious issue … it is a clear plan to make a Bangladesh in India which should be stopped immediately at any cost."