Humayun Kabir, TMC MLA use Eid qurbani in first direct challenge to BJP in Bengal

The new Suvendu Adhikari-led government in West Bengal is dealing with its first direct challenge, as Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) supremo and MLA Humayun Kabir has openly challenged the state government over qurbani, the ritual sacrifice during Eid al-Adha. Not just Kabir, Trinamool Congress MLA from Raghunathganj, Akhruzzaman, has also taken the matter to the Calcutta High Court. As the state rolled out fresh guidelines restricting cow slaughter unless certain conditions are met, Kabir insisted that qurbani would continue regardless of objections or curbs. Read Full Story However, Dilip Ghosh, BJP leader and West Bengal Animal Resources Development Minister, said that the government's cattle slaughter rules shouldn't be linked to Eid qurbani practices. "There is no basis of linking cattle slaughter rules with Eid or religious practices like qurbani. If there is a custom... that has to be performed in adherence to the existing laws of the land," Ghosh was quoted by The Times of India as saying. Even as Kabir and Akhruzzaman took on the BJP over its restrictions on cow slaughter ahead of Eid, other senior Muslim leaders appealed to the community to refrain from purchasing and sacrificing cows this year. Eid al-Adha will be celebrated on May 28 in India. HUMAYAN KABIR SAYS QURBANI 1,400 YEARS OLD TRADITION, WILL CONTINUE Speaking to news agency ANI, on Wednesday, Kabir said that the act of qurbani, which he described as dating back to 1,400 years, would keep on going regardless of any objections or regulatory directives. "It’s a tradition that has been going on for 1,400 years and will continue as long as the world exists," ANI quoted Kabir as saying about qurbani on Wednesday. Kabir further asserted that while the government had the authority to regulate the consumption of beef as it saw fit, but it must not interfere in a long-standing religious practice dating back millennia. "The government can make a rule asking Muslims not to eat beef, but ritual sacrifice [qurbani] will continue. We won’t listen to any objections". A former Trinamool Congress MLA who previously served as a minister during the first Mamata Banerjee ministry, Kabir formed the AJUP after he was expelled from the Trinamool Congress in December 2025 after he proposed the construction of a Babri Masjid in Bengal. In the 2026 Assembly polls in West Bengal, Kabir won both the seats he was contesting, those being Rejinagar and Naoda. He had previously stated he would be open to supporting the BJP in order to keep the TMC out of power in the event of a hung Assembly. "If they [BJP] give me support to stop the TMC, I will support them from outside. If they support me from outside, I will not join them. I will not join TMC. I will join BJP," Kabir had stated in February. TMC MLA AKHRUZZAMAN APPROACHED CALCUTTA HIGH COURT Kabir is not the only person opposed to this notice. TMC MLA Akhruzzaman moved a petition to the Calcutta High Court contending that the restrictions interfere with the religious practices associated with Eid-ul-Azha. "Qurbani is a religious custom of Islam. During this time, the very cattle, whether cows or buffaloes, that one has reared are offered as a sacrifice to Allah," he said. While appearing before the court on Wednesday, TMC MP from Krishnanagar, Mahua Moitra, had argued that the notification restricting cow slaughter would inflict financial losses on economically weaker sections dependent on cattle rearing for livelihood. "The notification issued by the State Government will result in financial loss for the poor people of the state. Poor people rear cattle with the expectation that selling them will provide some financial savings. However, the measures taken by the state administration will cause harm to the common people," she submitted before the Bench. On Thursday, the Calcutta High Court reserved its order on petitions challenging the Bengal government’s cattle slaughter restrictions ahead of Eid al-Adha. Similarly, The Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) also moved the Calcutta High Court seeking urgent judicial intervention against the state BJP government's move to invoke the West Bengal Animal Slaughter Control Act, 1950, arguing that the proposed restrictions would infringe upon the religious freedoms of the Muslim community and adversely impact the livelihoods of farmers and cattle traders, many of whom belong to the Hindu community. MUSLIM LEADERS URGE COMMUNITY TO REFRAIN FROM COW SACRIFICE Even as Humayun Kabir locks horns with the Suvendu Adhikari-led West Bengal government over qurbani restrictions, several Muslim clerics and community leaders have appealed to Muslims to refrain from cow sacrifice during Eid al-Adha this year. The imam of Kolkata’s iconic Nakhoda Mosque, Maulana Mohammad Shafiq Qasmi, urged Muslims to avoid cow sacrifice out of respect for Hindu sentiments and argued that the West Bengal government’s latest notification has made the process extremely difficult in the absence o