Babri Politics Returns: Humayun Kabir’s December 6 Gamble
TMC MLA Humayun Kabir (Image X.com)
With West Bengal polls nearing, a Murshidabad MLA’s plan for a ‘Babri Masjid’ project exposes a volatile mix of faith, factionalism and fragile vote banks.
By NIRENDRA DEV
New Delhi, November 26, 2025 — West Bengal’s simmering politics has found a new flashpoint in December 6. Humayun Kabir, the MLA from Bharatpur in Muslim-majority Murshidabad, has announced plans to build a ‘Babri Masjid’ complex on 20 bighas of land in Beldanga at an estimated cost of ₹125 crore.
The project will include a mosque, hospital, college and a multi-storeyed rest house. The symbolism is deliberate. The timing is incendiary.
Kabir says he will unveil the plan on December 6, the anniversary of the 1992 demolition in Ayodhya. The move has triggered sharp reactions across the political spectrum. The Bharatiya Janata Party has called it a sinister electoral ploy, while the ruling Trinamool Congress has chosen to distance itself cautiously by announcing a peace march in Kolkata the same day.
What makes the episode politically sensitive is not merely the proposed mosque but Kabir’s own uneasy equation with Trinamool. Once associated with the BJP, earlier suspended by his party for indiscipline and later reinstated, Kabir has long been seen as politically restless. His decision to reportedly exclude Mamata Banerjee from the December 6 programme has only intensified speculation about his independent ambitions.
Murshidabad, with nearly 70 per cent Muslim population, is a cornerstone of Trinamool’s minority support. Any internal fracture here carries statewide implications as the 2026 Assembly elections approach. Kabir appears to be attempting precisely that — building a separate political identity through a potent mix of community sentiment and religious symbolism.
Significantly, opposition to the project is not confined to rival parties. The Bengal Imam Association has publicly questioned the very need for a ‘Babri Masjid’ three decades after the demolition, calling the move political rather than religious. That criticism undercuts Kabir’s claim that he is acting solely in the interest of the community.
The truth is that December 6 no longer holds the same mobilising power it once did. Public memory today revolves more around the 2019 verdict of the Supreme Court of India and the construction of the Ram temple. Kabir’s move, therefore, looks less like a reflection of collective sentiment and more like a calculated bid to revive an old wound for fresh political currency.
West Bengal’s Muslims, like all citizens, are grappling with education, employment and healthcare challenges. A politics anchored in symbolic provocation risks diverting attention from these everyday realities. If Kabir’s gambit fragments Trinamool’s minority base, it will alter electoral equations in 2026. But whether it serves the larger interests of the community remains deeply doubtful.
What is unfolding in Murshidabad is not a religious movement. It is a high-risk political experiment with communal memory — one that could leave lasting scars on Bengal’s fragile social balance.
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