E-Paper
‘Will be done’: Suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir defiant on ‘Babri Masjid’
CM Mamata Banerjee launched a sharp attack on Humayun Kabir without naming him, calling him a "Mirzafar-gaddar (traitor)" who has “taken money from the BJP”.
Suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Humayun Kabir remained adamant on Friday to go ahead with his plan to build a “Babri Masjid” in West Bengal’s Murshidabad.
This comes after TMC suspended Kabir from the party for “anti-party activities” after he announced that he would lay the foundation stone of a “Babri Masjid” in Murshidabad on December 6, the anniversary of the demolition of the mosque in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya.
"Quran recitation will be held for two hours from 12 noon here tomorrow. After which, the foundation stone laying of the masjid will be done," Kabir told news agency ANI.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee launched a sharp attack on Kabir without naming him, calling him a "Mirzafar-gaddar (traitor)", who has taken money from the BJP to stoke communal tensions.
Senior minister Firhad Hakim declared the suspension in Kolkata on Thursday, saying the decision had been approved by the CM.
"Kabir was involved in communal politics, which the TMC is strictly against. He will have no relation with the party from this moment," Hakim said, stressing that the ruling party "does not believe in communal provocation" at a time when it is working to maintain peace before next year's Assembly polls.
Hakim, himself a mutawalli (trustee) of a mosque in Kolkata, underlined the party's discomfort with Kabir's rhetoric.
A defiant Humayun Kabir announced that he would resign as MLA, launch his own party later this month, and press ahead with the programme even if it meant getting "arrested or killed.
Calcutta high court refuses to intervene
The Calcutta high court on Friday refused to intervene in the case regarding the Babri Masjid in Murshidabad. The division bench of the acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul left the responsibility of maintaining peace to the state, news agency ANI reported.
The court did not interfere with the program announced by Humayun Kabir.
The West Bengal government told the court that the state has deployed the necessary forces to maintain law and order. The centre said that it had already deployed 19 companies of the central forces in the area.
