A fierce political and communal controversy has engulfed West Bengal after Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir publicly declared his intention to lay the foundation stone for a mosque named “Babri Masjid” on December 6 in Beldanga, Murshidabad district—the exact date marking the 33rd anniversary of the 1992 demolition of the original Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, a moment that remains one of the most sensitive chapters in India’s recent history.

The Bharatiya Janata Party launched a scathing attack, with spokesperson Yaser Jilani accusing Kabir of deliberately stoking communal tensions for electoral gain. Jilani claimed the announcement is part of a broader Trinamool strategy rooted in “politics of hatred and appeasement,” warning that with a growing anti-incumbency wave in Bengal and impending elections, senior TMC leaders are resorting to provocative measures to consolidate their traditional vote bank and divert public attention from governance failures.

Kabir, addressing supporters earlier, had stated unequivocally that prominent Muslim leaders from across the region would attend the foundation-laying ceremony and that the new mosque would take approximately three years to complete. The deliberate choice of both the name and the symbolically charged date immediately triggered outrage among several quarters, who viewed it as an intentional attempt to reopen old wounds and polarize communities in an already sensitive border district.

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Congress leaders adopted a more restrained stance, with Delhi leader Sandeep Dikshit arguing that constructing a mosque anywhere in India is a routine religious activity and should not be conflated with the Ayodhya dispute. Similarly, Congress MP Surendra Rajput questioned the necessity of manufacturing controversy, stressing that every community retains the constitutional right to build places of worship—be it mosques, temples, gurdwaras, or churches—without political interference.

Adding a theological dimension to the debate, All India Imam Association president Maulana Sajid Rashidi issued a firm rebuttal, asserting that Islamic jurisprudence holds that once a mosque is established, its sanctity is eternal. He emphasized that while new mosques bearing the name “Babri Masjid” can be built anywhere, they can never diminish or replace the unique religious and historical significance of the original structure in Ayodhya.

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