JD(U) MP backs TMC MLA Humayun Kabir over Babri-modelled mosque

JD(U) MP Kaushalendra Kumar on Monday defended suspended Trinamool Congress legislator Humayun Kabir, who recently laid the foundation stone for a mosque modelled on the Babri Masjid in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.

Speaking to journalists in Nalanda, his Lok Sabha constituency and the home turf of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) leader said the Constitution guaranteed citizens the right to practise and propagate their religion.

“The Constitution guarantees all citizens the right to practise and propagate their religion. If building such a mosque is in line with Muslim sentiments, nobody should have a problem with it,” Kaushalendra Kumar said. His remarks come at a politically sensitive moment, with West Bengal set to go to polls in the coming months.

Kumar also distanced himself from the BJP’s view that constructing a mosque associated with Babur amounted to honouring an “invader”.

“I have not seen Babur and do not have much idea of what he stood for. But we have been following the Constitution since Independence which guarantees right to freedom of religion,” he said.

The JD(U), while a BJP ally both at the Centre and in Bihar, has at times articulated differing positions on sensitive socio-religious issues.

Responding to questions about the BJP’s opposition to the proposed mosque, the MP suggested that political dynamics were more complex than portrayed.

“Things are not the way as you are trying to suggest. In fact, it is (West Bengal CM) Mamata Banerjee who has cracked down on a Muslim leader for voicing his religious sentiments,” he claimed, referring to Kabir’s recent suspension from the TMC.

Kabir, the MLA from Bharatpur in Murshidabad, laid the foundation stone on 6 December for a mosque designed on the lines of the Babri Masjid of Ayodhya.

The ceremony coincided with the anniversary of the 1992 demolition of the 16th-century structure, an event that reshaped national politics. A day earlier, the Calcutta High Court had refused to intervene in the project.

The original Babri Masjid, built in the 16th century, was demolished by a mob on 6 December 1992.

Following a Supreme Court verdict that settled the title suit in favour of the Hindu litigants, a Ram temple has since been constructed at the site in Ayodhya.

Kabir’s move and the political responses around it are expected to feature prominently in the build-up to the West Bengal assembly elections, where the TMC and BJP are locked in a high-stakes contest.