India's Trinamool Congress has suspended MLA Humayun Kabir after he announced plans to lay the foundation stone for a Babri Masjid replica in Beldanga, Murshidabad, later this week.
Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said the party “believes in secular theory” and Kabir’s remarks conflicted with this principle.
“We noticed that one of our MLAs suddenly declared he would build the Babri Masjid. Why suddenly Babri Masjid? We already warned him. As per the decision of our party, we are suspending MLA Humayun Kabir,” Hakim said.
Sources told NDTV that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was reportedly “hugely annoyed” by Kabir’s statements and had communicated that neither she nor the party would associate with the move.
Minutes after his suspension, Kabir skipped Banerjee’s rally at the India-Bangladesh border in Murshidabad to protest the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.
Bengal Governor Ananda Bose raised concerns with the state government, asking why Kabir had not been arrested if his statements were creating a law-and-order risk. “Reports indicate someone is deliberately trying to turn Murshidabad into a hub of scandal. If communal sentiments are stirred, the state will not remain a mute spectator,” he said.
While Kabir has official permission to hold the event on December 6, authorities in Murshidabad remain on high alert. A Trinamool district leader dismissed Kabir’s actions as political theatrics aimed at securing an election ticket from Rejinagar.
BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo criticized Kabir, warning that attempts to build a Babri Masjid-like structure in West Bengal could provoke communal tensions similar to those surrounding the original Babri Masjid dispute.
Source: NDTV