Mirzapur (UP), Feb 17 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has taken a jibe at suspended Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir’s announcement to construct a replica of the Babri Masjid in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.
Asked about the proposed mosque, Sarma told reporters in Mirzapur on Monday, “It is a ‘putlaa’ (dummy) of the Babri Masjid, not the original (mosque). When the original is gone, what will the ‘putlaa’ do?” Last Wednesday, Kabir began the construction of the much-hyped mosque – modelled on Ayodhya’s Babri Masjid – at Beldanga in Murshidabad district.
Kabir, who recently floated the Janata Unnayan Party (JUP) after his ouster from the Trinamool Congress, announced that the mosque at Rejinagar in Beldanga would be completed within two years and cost around Rs 50-55 crore.
The mosque is being built on an 11-acre plot and will have the capacity to accommodate about 12,000 people to offer namaz.
Following Kabir’s announcement, the Vishva Hindu Raksha Parishad, a right-wing group, had called on the people of Uttar Pradesh to march to Murshidabad.
A large group of Kar Sevaks demolished the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
A Supreme Court verdict settled the issue on November 9, 2019, by backing the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site and ruling that an alternative five-acre plot be found for a mosque in the holy town.
After the top court order, a grand Ram temple was constructed in Ayodhya. PTI NAV ARI
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