Daijiworld Media Network - Kolkata

Kolkata, Dec 6: Marking the Babri Masjid demolition anniversary—observed by the Trinamool Congress each year as “Harmony Day”—West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee reiterated her commitment to resisting communal division, issuing a pointed message aimed at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) without naming it directly.

In a social media statement on Saturday, she said, “Those who are indulging in the politics of fuelling communal fires to destabilise the nation—our fight against them will continue.”

Calling for peace and unity, the chief minister urged citizens to uphold Bengal’s long-standing culture of harmony. “Unity is Strength,” she wrote. “My greetings to all on ‘Harmony Day’. The soil of Bengal—Rabindranath’s, Nazrul’s, Ramakrishna-Vivekananda’s—has always rejected division and will continue to do so.”

She highlighted Bengal’s tradition of coexistence among diverse faiths, noting that people from all religions—Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Jain and Buddhist—“walk shoulder to shoulder” and celebrate together because “religion is personal, but festivals belong to everyone.”

Later in the afternoon, the Trinamool Congress will hold its annual Sampriti Diwas (Harmony Day) programme at Esplanade in Central Kolkata, organised by the party’s youth and student wings and attended by senior leaders.

Meanwhile, in Murshidabad’s Beldanga, a separate event will take place—the foundation stone laying for a proposed Babri Mosque. The ceremony is being organised by Humayun Kabir, the suspended Trinamool legislator from the Bharatpur constituency. The planned structure is intended to resemble the original Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, demolished on December 7, 1992.