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Humayun Kabir informed that the construction of the mosque is expected to be completed within two years.
Humayun Kabir Work begins on Babri Masjid replica in West Bengal.(File image: News18)
The construction of the Babri Masjid replica — a project driven by suspended Trinamool Congress leader Humayun Kabir — began on Wednesday in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district. The former TMC leader informed that the construction of the mosque is expected to be completed within two years.
“The construction of the mosque is expected to be completed within two years. By the grace of Allah and with His blessings, our Babri Masjid will be built,” Kabir said.
He further warned those opposing the construction and suggested them to ‘step aside’. “People are free to follow their own religions and build temples, churches, or whatever they wish. I won’t oppose anyone in the name of Islam,” he said.
“My effort is for Islam to please Allah… it is not about imposing anything,” the former TMC leader added.
Humayun Kabir sparked a political storm in Bengal after he announced his plans to re-build the Babri Masjid, a 16th century mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya that was demolished by a right-wing mob in December 1992.
Soon after he made the announcement, a massive ‘temple vs mosque’ debate took centre stage between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
In response to the Murshidabad Babri Masjid plan, TMC suspended Kabir from the party. To this, Kabir responded by launching his own political outfit – the Janata Unnayan Party, which he called a ‘game-changer’ in Bengali politics.
He has also announced that his party would contest 135 seats in the 2026 Bengal election, from a total of 249. The JUP will defeat the Trinamool, he said.
In a fierce attack that included jabs at the BJP, he acknowledged Banerjee’s “unquestionable” leadership – the redoubtable Trinamool boss has guided her party to three electoral wins, i.e., two federal and one state – over the BJP but declared “she is no longer the same person I knew…”
BJP On Mosque Construction
The BJP, meanwhile, called the action an attempt to create communal tensions in the state and stated that it is a “calculated” move by the Trinamool Congress.
The party also asserted that Kabir is working with the Trinamool and that his apparent discord is a ruse to split votes. “Kabir will not be a factor… He will face a drubbing with Trinamool, with which he is in touch in a clandestine manner,” state BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya claimed.
West Bengal, India, India
February 11, 2026, 14:33 IST
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