Mosque inside Kolkata airport kicks up storm. How did it actually get there? ::::: Bankara mosque near secondary runway "obstructs safe [aircraft] operations"

 Mosque inside Kolkata airport kicks up storm. How did it actually get there?

The century-old Bankra mosque, which is situated a few hundred metres from the secondary runway of Kolkata airport, has sparked a political row. BJP leaders have flagged safety and security concerns regarding the mosque. How did the mosque come to be in the airport in the first place?  

WHY BJP LEADERS ARE RED-FLAGGING ? 

"The Ministry of Civil Aviation has admitted that a mosque is situated near the secondary runway. It obstructs safe operations, displacing the runway threshold by 88 metres. 

This affects runway utilisation during urgent situations when the primary runway is unavailable. Passenger safety cannot be sacrificed by appeasement politics. Mamata Banerjee must know that," wrote BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya on his X handle on Wednesday.

This isn't the first time that controversy has erupted over the Bankra mosque.

For decades, various governments, both in the state and at the Centre, have tried to resolve the situation by proposing to shift the mosque. But the Muslim community has reportedly turned down such requests.

People outside Kolkata might not be aware of the existence of a mosque inside the city's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. 

The Bankra mosque at the Kolkata airport, less than 300 metres from the secondary runway, has repeatedly flared up as a topic of debate over the years over safety concerns. The issue resurfaced again on Wednesday after West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya's questions and the response of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), on the mosque, became public.  

The copy of the parliamentary question and its answer, where the MoCA admitted to having knowledge of the mosque's existence near the secondary runway, was amplified further when BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya. 

He claimed that that mosque near the secondary runway, according to the MoCA, "obstructs safe [aircraft] operations" and "affects runway utilisation during urgent situations".

For decades, various governments, both in the state and at the Centre, have tried to resolve the situation by proposing to shift the mosque, which was built in the late 1890s, to a nearby location outside the airport premises. However, the Muslim community has reportedly turned down such requests.  

With the renewed concern over the mosque from the BJP leaders, the natural questions have resurfaced as to how did a mosque end up inside the international airport in Kolkata in the first place? Which came up first?

Was it the mosque? Or was it the airport at Dum Dum? But before we get to that, let's look at what Samik Bhattacharya actually asked and what the ministry replied, and how BJP leaders framed that response.  

Earlier this year, the leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari called for the immediate sealing of the boundary at Kolkata airport.

He said, "What is happening at Kolkata Airport is a matter of great concern from a security perspective. Prayers are being performed on the ground. The boundary of Kolkata Airport is not being sealed..." Speaking about the delay in Kolkata Airport's expansion plans, Adhikari said, "The reason given is the relocation of the mosque to the second runway. This cannot go on...". 

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