Entry to mosque at Kolkata Airport stopped; CM Suvendu Adhikari says national security is supreme
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Entry to mosque at Kolkata Airport stopped; CM Suvendu Adhikari says national security is supreme")
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said the gates of a vital installation cannot be kept open for outsiders. Photograph: (X)
Experts say that if the first runway is temporarily closed for maintenance, there will be problems with large aircraft taking off and landing. Airport officials said the mosque also poses a risk to aircraft taking off and landing and that work on expanding the second runway has been stalled.
Buttressing the West Bengal government’s stand on the suspension of entry passes for congregational prayers at a mosque inside the Kolkata airport, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has said that national security is supreme and the gates of the vital installation that has critical geo-political importance cannot be kept open for outsiders.
The 136-year-old Gauripur Jama Masjid, also known as the ‘Bankra Masjid’, is located within Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, and there has been talk of relocating it for a long time.
Dum Dum Airport has two runways of which the main runway is used for takeoffs and landings, while the second runway is smaller. The mosque is located at a short distance from the second runway.
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Experts say that if the first runway is temporarily closed for maintenance, there will be problems with large aircraft taking off and landing. Airport officials said that the mosque also poses a risk to aircraft taking off and landing and that the work on expanding the second runway has also been stalled.
Since Saturday, the airport has stopped issuing entry passes for entry through the airport gate, and prayers have been stopped in the mosque. It is reported that police and security guards have also been deployed to maintain social harmony.
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“National security and security of the airport will gain priority over everything else. As a chief minister, I will not comment further. The location of Kolkata International airport is critical since both China and Bangladesh are close by. It cannot keep its gates open for outsiders,” Adhikari said on Sunday.
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“We have not stopped anyone from practising their religion, unlike what they (the opposition) said about us. Bakrid (Eid al-Adha) was observed adhering to animal slaughter laws, Muharram was observed without brandishing weapons, and there was no problem. Obey the law and act as good citizens. Observe your religions as a personal matter, without trying to influence others. Then everything will run smoothly,” the chief minister added.
Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar also backed the Chief Minister.
“Ever since I was a student, I used to read in the newspaper that due to a mosque at Kolkata airport, the runway cannot be constructed and no previous government interfered due to appeasement politics... Now that our government is in power, the mosque will be relocated as we don’t believe in appeasement politics,” the Union Minister said.
Sourav Sikdar, BJP MLA from Dum Dum Uttar under whose assembly segment the airport falls, said that the mosque’s presence within the airport complex has affected the full operational use of the two runways and raised security concerns.
He claimed that people visiting it for prayers do not require airport passes or background verification.
“An airport is a secured area. Any person entering the airport has to obtain a biometric pass with a photograph. This mosque is located in the highest-security area, known as Level 3,” he said.
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The airport handles the movement of VVIPs, including the prime minister and chief minister, besides lakhs of passengers every month and the existing arrangement posed a potential security concern, Sikdar said further.
Siddiqullah Chowdhury, president of the mosque committee and a former minister in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, opposed the suspension of prayers, pointing out that the mosque has stood for over 136 years. He argued that entry for namaz should not have been stopped as discussions with airport and government authorities on the site were underway.
“The mosque has been there for more than 136 years, and there is an ongoing discussion on this issue. We are open to any amicable solution, and there was no need to stop entries for namaz,” Chowdhury said.
