West Bengal braces for a politically fraught Saturday as suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir pushes forward with the foundation-laying ceremony for a ‘Babri Masjid-style’ mosque in Murshidabad, triggering excessive alert and sharpened political messaging on a date laden with communal sensitivities.
The Beldanga website, the place Kabir claimed “three lakh individuals” would assemble, has been sealed right into a high-security grid, with deployment of RAF, district police, and central forces on each side of the Nationwide Freeway 12, after the Calcutta Excessive Courtroom declined to halt the occasion however positioned full accountability for public order on the state authorities.
The proposed mosque, which Kabir has repeatedly described as being “modelled on the Babri Masjid”, has stirred political unease in a district the place symbolism and mobilisation typically feed off one another.
For the Trinamool Congress (TMC)- which has distanced itself after suspending Kabir- the optics of the foundation-laying ceremony for the mosque on December 6, the anniversary of Ayodhya’s Babri Masjid demolition, carry dangers it has sought to pre-empt.
The run-up to the proposed occasion has compelled the administration to rearrange for expansive safety cowl.
RAF groups arrived in Rejinagar on Friday and have been stationed at a neighborhood college forward of deployment, whereas the district police – performing on a Calcutta Excessive Courtroom directive to make sure legislation and order – have drawn up a safety grid protecting Beldanga, Raninagar and all method roads to NH-12, the state’s solely north-south arterial freeway.
A senior officer mentioned almost 3,000 personnel can be deployed all through the day, with a number of diversion plans prepared if turnout threatens to choke the freeway.
On Friday, the excessive court docket, listening to a petition searching for to halt the occasion, declined to intervene and positioned the onus of sustaining public order on the state authorities, a cue that prompted the police to speak with Kabir’s staff through backchannel on Friday night time.
Governor C V Ananda Bose, in the meantime, urged residents to not be swayed by “provocative statements and rumours” and requested the state to make sure there was “no disturbance wherever”.
For Kabir, a Congress-BJP-turned-TMC insurgent whose political profession has oscillated as sharply because the reactions to his bulletins, Saturday’s occasion is each a take a look at of his mobilisation prowess and a declaration of defiance after his suspension from the TMC on Thursday for what the celebration referred to as “communal politics”.
The MLA, who has typically embarrassed the celebration with remarks that triggered showcause notices, mentioned he would resign as legislator and launch his personal outfit later this month.
On Friday, he was seen personally supervising the stage and meals preparations, showing unfazed by both the political backlash or the executive glare.
The size of preparations has lent the venue the atmosphere of an enormous public truthful. A 150-ft-long, 80-ft-wide dais towers over paddy fields off NH-12, with seating organized for 400 friends.
Two clerics from Saudi Arabia, organisers declare, will arrive in a particular convoy from Kolkata airport.
Practically 3,000 volunteers – 2,000 of whom started work early Friday – have been tasked with regulating entry roads, stopping bottlenecks and holding the nationwide freeway working.
Seven Murshidabad-based catering companies have been contracted to organize shahi biryani, with an estimated 40,000 packets for friends and one other 20,000 for residents.
A detailed aide of Kabir estimated meals bills alone at over Rs 30 lakh, with the overall venue finances more likely to contact Rs 70 lakh.
The day’s programme, circulated by organisers, lists Quran recitation at 10 am, the inspiration ceremony at midday, a group meal at 2 pm, and dispersal by 4 pm as per police directions.
On Saturday, the ruling celebration will observe ‘Samhati Diwas’ (Unity Day) statewide with rallies to unfold the message of communal concord.
The state authorities has declared a vacation on the day, projecting a message of peace and restraint.
The Left Entrance, in the meantime, will mark the day as “Black Day” in reminiscence of the demolition, underscoring how December 6 continues to be a political faultline.
As Bengal steps right into a Saturday thick with symbolism, safety and competing political narratives, Beldanga turns into the stage upon which defiance, religion, politics and electoral calculations converge.
Whether or not the occasion passes off as a managed present of energy or turns into a contemporary flashpoint will take a look at not simply the district’s policing bandwidth, however the political temperature of the state.
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