Suspended TMC MLA lays foundation for Babri-modelled mosque in Murshidabad, sparks political row

Suspended Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir on Saturday laid the foundation stone for a proposed mosque modelled on Ayodhya’s Babri Masjid at Rejinagar in Murshidabad district, setting off a fresh round of political confrontation in West Bengal less than a year before the assembly elections.

The ceremony, held amid heavy deployment of state police, Rapid Action Force personnel and central forces, drew thousands of supporters who arrived with bricks as symbolic offerings.

Kabir and visiting Islamic clerics inaugurated the event by cutting a ceremonial ribbon on a large stage erected nearly a kilometre from the site where the mosque is to be built.

The programme was scheduled on 6 December, the anniversary of the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid, a date that lent the gathering both emotional resonance and political sensitivity. Security arrangements were intensified not only at Rejinagar but across the adjoining Beldanga belt, which was turned into a high-security zone in anticipation of a spillover of crowds and potential disturbances.

The TMC had suspended Kabir earlier in the week, accusing him of indulging in “communal politics”. Addressing the gathering, Kabir adopted a combative tone and said the project would proceed “at any cost”.

He argued that constructing a place of worship was a constitutional right and asserted that a Babri Masjid–styled structure would come up in the area.

He told the audience that the initiative would not face financial hurdles and claimed that an unnamed industrialist had pledged Rs 80 crore towards the project.

Kabir said the mosque structure would occupy three kathas of land, while the broader complex would span nearly 25 bighas.

He outlined an expansive plan including a hospital, medical college, university, hotel and helipad, with an estimated total investment of around Rs 300 crore. According to him, a local doctor had already donated Rs 1 crore to the initiative. Several religious leaders from Saudi Arabia were present on the dais, adding a transnational dimension to the event.

As Quranic verses played over loudspeakers, attendees raised bricks aloft as “imaarati khairat”, symbolic construction donations, before placing them with volunteers. Kabir framed the project as an emotional and religious response to the events of 1992 and claimed that threats had been issued against him for announcing the mosque.

Citing population figures, he argued that Muslims in India and West Bengal should be able to construct a single mosque in the region, a remark that drew robust applause.

The spectacle prompted swift political reactions. The BJP accused the TMC of tacitly stoking polarisation ahead of the 2026 elections, while the ruling party moved to distance itself from Kabir’s actions, saying his suspension demonstrated that the party did not endorse his stance.

Senior TMC leaders described the MLA as a “free agent” whose defiance had become politically untenable.