Kolkata: High security arrangements have been put in place across parts of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district ahead of the foundation stone laying of a mosque modelled on Ayodhya’s Babri Masjid by a suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker.
Humayun Kabir, the MLA from Murshidabad’s Bharatpur constituency, has announced his plan to build the mosque in the district’s Beldanga area, which would be modelled on the Babri Masjid demolished in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
“More than 4,000 police personnel have been deployed. Two IPS officers in the rank of superintendent of police, at least 30 officers of deputy superintendent rank and around 100 police inspectors have been stationed in areas such as Beldanga and Rejinagar,” said a senior police official.
Police pickets and camps have been set up at multiple points in the area, and the Rapid Action Force (RAF) has also been deployed.
The Beldanga area was rocked by communal violence in April this year. Central police forces are still deployed in the region on orders of the Calcutta high court.
Senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim announced Kabir’s suspension from the party on Thursday, declaring that his conduct amounted to gross indiscipline at a time when the TMC is trying to maintain peace and communal harmony in Bengal. Later, addressing a rally in Murshidabad, chief minister Mamata Banerjee described Kabir as a “traitor working for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)”.
The Calcutta high court on Friday did not order a stay on Kabir’s plan to lay the foundation stone but directed the state to take adequate steps to maintain law and order at the spot, lawyers who attended the hearing said.
The Union government, in its submission before the Calcutta high court, said that 19 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), which were deployed in the region following communal riots in April this year, remain posted there and would be ready for deployment in the event of violence.
West Bengal Governor C. V. Ananda Bose has urged people to stay calm, vigilant, and not to be swayed by provocative statements and rumours.
“The Governor has directed the Lok Bhavan (formerly Raj Bhavan) to set up an Access Point Cell where people can report any untoward incidents. The cell will be functional round the clock. The contact number is 033-22001641. The Governor will concurrently monitor the entire situation,” said a Lok Bhavan official.
Known for making controversial remarks, Kabir started his political career in the Congress in 1983 and won Murshidabad’s Rejinagar seat in 2011 before joining the TMC and becoming a minister. The TMC expelled him for six years in 2015 for anti-party activities. He unsuccessfully contested as an independent candidate in 2016 to retain the Rejinagar seat. He joined the BJP in 2018 and unsuccessfully contested the Murshidabad Lok Sabha seat in 2019. He returned to the TMC in 2018 but won the Bharatpur seat as an independent candidate in 2021.
