Kabir lays 'Babri Masjid-style' mosque foundation, sparks political slugfest ahead of Bengal polls

Baharampur, Dec 6 (PTI) Suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir on Saturday laid the foundation stone for a mosque modelled on Ayodhya's Babri Masjid at Rejinagar in Murshidabad district amid unprecedented security, injecting fresh political heat into an already polarised West Bengal ahead of the assembly polls due early next year.

The event, deliberately timed for December 6, the anniversary of the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition, unfolded under a dense security blanket as state police, RAF and central forces converted stretches of Rejinagar and neighbouring Beldanga into controlled zones.

Kabir, speaking from a sprawling stage set nearly a kilometre away from the proposed mosque site, cut a ceremonial ribbon with visiting clerics as chants of "Nara-e-Takbeer, Allahu Akbar" rolled across the grounds filled with thousands of supporters carrying symbolic bricks.

"There is nothing unconstitutional about this. Building a place of worship is a constitutional right. Babri Masjid will be built," Kabir said, claiming four lakh people attended the event.

Referring to the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, Kabir framed the project as emotional restitution.

"Thirty-three years ago, a deep wound was inflicted on the hearts of Muslims. Today, we are applying a small balm to that wound," he said, adding that he had received threats for announcing the mosque.

Invoking demography, he added: "There are 40 crore Muslims in this country and four crore in this state. Can we not build one mosque here?" Clerics from Saudi Arabia shared the dais, amplifying the event's transnational religious messaging as Quranic verses played over loudspeakers.

Not far away, the BJP mounted a parallel show of religious symbolism as party leader Sakharav Sarkar laid the foundation stone for a Ram temple in Banjatiya's Manindra Nagar in Baharampur, using the moment to target the chief minister.

"This Babri mosque is not just Humayun Kabir's project. The state administration and the TMC are involved," he alleged.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee posted on X, "The soil of Bengal is the soil of unity of Rabindranath, Nazrul, Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. This land has never bowed its head before divisive politics, nor will it ever do so'¦ Faith is personal, but festivals belong to all." She asserted that the "battle against communal forces" would continue.

The spectacle at Rejinagar triggered an immediate political backlash. The BJP accused the TMC of covertly encouraging polarisation while publicly distancing itself from Kabir.

Senior leader Amit Malviya claimed on X that Kabir's supporters had been seen carrying bricks to construct what he called a Babri Masjid and alleged that the MLA had police backing.

"This so-called mosque project is not a religious effort but a political one, posing a serious threat to West Bengal's stability," he posted, warning that Mamata Banerjee was "pushing West Bengal towards turmoil".

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said that "the seed of Mughal-Pathan politics had been sown in Murshidabad today," adding that naming the mosque after an "invader" was an insult. "Babur represents tyranny and destruction. Supporting this is playing with fire," he said.

Adhikari was speaking during a 'Shourya Yatra' in north Kolkata to commemorate the demolition of Babri Masjid..

The procession, organised by apolitical religious outfit 'Singha Bahini', saw monks and participants brandishing tridents and raising slogans for Hindu unity ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.

Senior TMC leaders alleged the suspended MLA was "on the payroll of the BJP" and functioning as its agent to provoke unrest.

"The people of Murshidabad are peace-loving and do not support his provocations," a TMC leader said.

The Congress accused both the TMC and BJP of exploiting religious anxieties in a district that has historically seen communal tension.

Hundreds of Congress workers in Kolkata held a 'Sadbhawna Rally' from a mosque to a temple, urging people to reject a return to the fears of post Babri demolition communalisation.

"Temples and mosques will not give people jobs or food. Politics of division must stop," state Congress chief Subhankar Sarkar said.

Kabir's own political arc added to the intrigue.

A former Congress leader who later joined the TMC, briefly crossed to the BJP and then returned, Kabir has built a reputation for turbulence and theatrics. His suspension followed repeated run-ins with the leadership.

On Saturday, he hinted at launching a new party later this month, signalling that far from retreating, he intends to expand his footprint.

On the ground, the administration struggled with crowd pressure. National Highway 12 was clogged for hours as vehicles lined the Kolkata-bound lane.

Many attendees walked 7-8 km, some trekking through fields to reach the ground.

Although no major incident was reported, surveillance remained high across communally sensitive pockets of Murshidabad, with QRT teams deployed.

The event also came on the eve of another massive religious mobilisation in Kolkata, where organisers expect nearly five lakh devotees to participate in a collective Bhagavad Gita chanting session at iconic Brigade Parade Grounds, with top state BJP leaders and yoga guru Baba Ramdev likely to be in attendance.

As floodlights glinted off thousands of raised bricks at Rejinagar, what began as a foundation ceremony ultimately exposed the raw convergence of faith, identity and hard electoral arithmetic in a politically febrile Bengal. PTI PNT SUS BDC PNT NN