PIL in Calcutta HC challenges rebel Trinamool MLA's call to build 'Babri Mosque' in Murshidabad

KOLKATA, (IANS): A public interest litigation has been filed before a division bench headed by Calcutta High Court’s Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul challenging the announcement by rebel Trinamool Congress legislator from Bharatpur in Murshidabad district, Humayun Kabir, to set up a Babri Mosque in the district on the lines of the erstwhile structure in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

Kabir had also announced that the foundation stone for the construction in Murshidabad would be laid on December 6 -- the anniversary of the Babri Mosque demolition at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

The division bench headed by Justice Paul had earlier directed the petitioner, Sabyasachi Chattopadhyay -- himself a senior counsel of the Calcutta High Court -- to formally file the PIL as per legal provisions.

However, the date for the first hearing in the matter is yet to be notified.

In his petition, Chattopadhyay claimed that such announcements, along with provocative statements made by Kabir on the issue, might disturb the atmosphere of communal harmony in the state. He sought the intervention of the Calcutta High Court to prevent any potential law-and-order situation.

Controversy has also escalated over the land at Beldanga in Murshidabad district, which Kabir identified as the proposed construction site.

The landowner, a farmer from Murshidabad, has publicly declared that he will neither sell the land nor allow anyone to build a Babri Masjid on it.

He has also erected a boundary wall around the property. Kabir, however, issued a strong challenge, saying he would "give his life" to ensure the Babri Masjid is built if necessary.

"There are multiple places in Beldanga. The foundation stone of Babri Masjid will be laid on December 6. No force can stop it. The responsibility of maintaining law and order in the district is not mine alone. If necessary, there will be a fight," Kabir said last week.

He also expressed anger that Trinamool MLAs Hasanuzzaman Sk and Rabiul Alam Chowdhury, representing Beldanga and Rejinagar constituencies, respectively, are not assisting him in any way in the proposed construction of the Babri Masjid.