KOLKATA/BEHRAMPORE: Calcutta HC directed the Bengal govt Friday to do whatever it takes to pre-empt communal disturbance in Murshidabad’s Beldanga ahead of suspended TMC MLA
Humayun Kabir’s planned foundation-laying ceremony for a “Babri Masjid”, coinciding with the Dec 6 anniversary of the Ayodhya structure’s 1992 demolition.
“The state must act per its stand... The law-and-order situation in Murshidabad shall be strictly maintained, and the lives and properties of citizens will be protected,” the division bench of acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen said while disposing of a PIL against the scheduled event.
Kabir’s mosque plan comes barely eight months after communal violence in Murshidabad, triggered by protests against the Wakf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
Advocate-general Kishore Datta told the bench the state had already deployed adequate forces to thwart any plan to disturb peace. Deputy solicitor-general Rajdeep Majumdar said 19 companies of CISF were stationed in the area. A 3,500-strong security contingent, including RAF units, fanned out into Rejinagar and its surrounding areas on the eve of the event. Two BSF companies are on standby to secure NH-12.
MLA Kabir, suspended by TMC a day ago, was summoned to Rejinagar police station Friday evening and questioned for several hours, sources said. Earlier in the day, a defiant Kabir supervised arrangements for Saturday’s event and asked his team to arrange 30,000 packets of biryani for his guests. He met splinter groups of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and All Bengal Imam Muezzin Association.
“The main programme will start at noon. The Quran will be read for two hours. There will be no speeches, no political representation, no party flags, and no political canards. I will be there with 2,000 volunteers. Everyone knows... this isn’t a new thing,” he told reporters.
TMC spokesman Kunal Ghosh alleged a conspiracy hatched by TMC’s main rival to discredit the party as the state heads into an election year.
(With inputs from PTI)
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