Humayun Kabir: From Power to Suspension

Humayun Kabir, who once said, “Hindus are 30, Muslims are 70. Hence, If we wish, we can cut them and float their bodies in the Bhagirathi,” is now a suspended leader.  Moreover, Humayun Kabir is famous for such a notorious comment of communal politics in West Bengal. Lastly, Mamata Banerjee has currently suspended him from the Trinamool Congress on 4^th December 2025.

Besides, we must say sorry, to avoid technical glitches, let us rephrase the statement. It was not Mamata, but Firhad Hakim, another controversial minority face of the Trinamool Congress, announced Humayun’s suspension from the Trinamool Bhavan in Kolkata. Two minority leaders from Murshidabad sat beside him during the announcement.  Additionally, such minority leaders in Trinamool Congress are famous for fueling communal politics in West Bengal.

Subsequently, a strange coincidence followed. While Firhad was announcing the suspension, Mamata Banerjee was holding a public meeting. On the other hand, Humayun was present there as an invited member of the district president. As a result, he came down from the stage immediately after learning about his suspension over phone.

Right after that, Mamata Banerjee hurled abuses on Humayun Kabir in a very indecent manner. So, it appears the district president was unaware of this plan to suspension.

Humayun Kabir: The turncoat politician

However, Humayun Kabir is famous as a turncoat politician.  He started with the Congress under Adhir Chowdhury’s leadership at first. Later, he moved to the Trinamool Congress to gain benefits by staying close to the ruling party. Consequently, he became the MLA of Raninagar on a Congress ticket. Then, in 2013, he joined Trinamool and immediately became a minister. Soon after, he faced suspension. Subsequently, he stayed independent for the next two years. Then he joined the BJP.  Thus, he didn’t leave out any other major political party except for the Left parties. Subsequently, in 2021, he returned to Trinamool Congress and became the MLA from Bharatpur. Once again, he became a minister for one year.

Furthermore, Humayun, in his frustration, has become known for making careless comments. But Mamata Banerjee never took action against him because he is a minority face and has an organizational base in Rejinagar.  However, he wanted to see Abhishek Banerjee as the deputy Chief minister. So, his intent was to remain under the beam light in the political landscape of West Bengal.

In addition, Humayun Kabir is a vocal leader in Bengal. Hence, he speaks whatever comes to his mind. Following the loss of his ministerial position, he sensed a gradual erosion of his standing within the party. Likewise Mamata Banerjee, he always wants to remain in front of the media cameras.

Mamata Banerjee and her whims

Mamata Banerjee used him aggressively against Adhir Chowdhury during the intense communal polarization in 2024. Therefore, he worked as a loyal party soldier. As a result, he actively campaigned with Irfan Pathan and ensured that Muslim votes shifted entirely to the Trinamool Congress. Above All, Mamata Banerjee has introduced communal politics in West Bengal. After all, he left no stone unturned to prevent those votes from going to the Congress. Nevertheless, Murshidabad is a Muslim-majority district, which means the minorities are the majority there.

Now that Humayun has served her purpose, his importance has sharply declined. Besides, Mamata Banerjee understands this political calculation very well.

Since, past two months, Humayun Kabir has been plotting to construct a mosque in Murshidabad modeled after the Babri Masjid. Significantly,  he fixed 6th December as the foundation-stone day. In addition, that very date deliberately matches the day of the Babri Masjid was demolishing in 1992. Moreover, he himself is a Muslim and fully understands the emotions of Muslims regarding the Babri Masjid. So, he put up hoardings, banners and festoons across Murshidabad to publicize the event.

Therefore, Humayun clearly planned this to enhance and reshape his political image and increase his significance in West Bengal politics.

Humayun Kabir and Mamata Banerjee

Mamata Banerjee, either as the head of the state administration or as the leader of the Trinamool Congress, took no action against him for a long time. When she finally woke up to the issue, it was already too late. Hence, Humayun had already exploited Muslim emotions and revived the glimpses of hopes of a Babri-style mosque. Even if she sends him to jail now or expels him from the party, she cannot protect the state from the poisonous communal roots Humayun has already planted. However, no one bothers about Humayun’s political future, as he has never been a mass leader.

But today, Humayun Kabir has earned an unprivileged mileage for this mosque issue and reckless moves of  traumatized Mamata Banerjee. Earlier, he held influence solely over Rejinagar, just one constituency. As a result, he has acquired remarkable popularity across the entire Murshidabad. Thus he has reaped the benefits of divisive and diabolical politics.

Mamata Banerjee is now taking extremely sensitive decisions because she sees the BJP as a threat. So, her main goal is to divide the Hindu vote.  Also, she does not want the BJP to get the entire Hindu vote share. That is why she sometimes builds the Jagannath temple and sometimes the Mahakal temple.

In other words, after years of openly appeasing Muslims, she is now trying to atone for it. Besides, out of fear of the BJP’s aggressive Hindutva politics, she has started projecting herself as a strong Hindu.

Otherwise, West Bengal has shown decent to communal politics.

History of Communal Politics

Nevertheless, history silently witnesses how the Shah Bano case plunged Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress into deep trouble. Likewise, under pressure from Muslim fundamentalists, he passed a law in the Lok Sabha to overturn the Supreme Court’s judgment. Later on, when the Vishwa Hindu Parishad continued its agitation, he tried to pacify them by opening the long-locked gates of the Ram temple. As a result. after 1989, the Congress never came to power in India with a single majority again.

Finally, Mamata Banerjee is now riding a similar tiger of communal politics. Thus there is no safe way for her to get down from it.