The Trinamool Congress on Thursday suspended its Bharatpur MLA Humayun Kabir, who had stirred up a political storm after proposing to build a ‘Babri Musjid’ in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.
Kabir, who has signalled revolt for months and recently declared his intention to float a new outfit, had said that the foundation stone of the mosque would be laid on December 6 and that NH-34 would be under "Muslim control" on that day.
"Kabir was involved in communal politics, which the TMC is strictly against. TMC does not believe in communal politics. He will have no relation with the party from this moment. He is suspended on the instructions of our top leadership," TMC leader Firhad Hakim said.
On Tuesday, the rebel MLA had accused the state government of acting as “RSS agents" and warned officials not to "play with fire" by trying to stop his programme scheduled for December 6
"I said a year ago that I would lay the foundation of the Babri Masjid in Beldanga. Why is your skin burning? Are you being run by the BJP?" Kabir asked. "NH-34 will remain under my control, under the control of the Muslims,” he added.
Interestingly, Kabir’s suspension came on a day when Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to address a rally in Murshidabad as part of her campaign against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Earlier, posters had emerged across the district announcing the foundation-laying ceremony of the ‘Babri Masjid’ and showing the picture of a mosque similar to the disputed structure in Ayodhya, which was demolished on December 6, 1992.