|
IslamOnline.net & Newspapers
CAIRO —
Churches and locals in Camberley town, South East England, are
opposing a planned mosque, describing its minarets as
supremacist statement for Islam.
|
 |
|
Churches said the
mosque's minarets are a security threat to the royal
family. (Times) |
"I
think it fair to say that a mosque with two 100ft minarets and a
large elevated dome is making not so much a spiritual, as a
powerful cultural, or even political statement," Rev Mark
Chester, chairman of Churches Together coalition, told the Times
Wednesday, March 10.
The
coalition, which represents Camberley churches, firmly opposes
the planned mosque's design and site.
It
threatened that the mosque plan would spark "antagonism between
the Muslim community and the wider community in Camberley for
years to come."
The
mosque, proposed by the Bengali Welfare Association, would be
located near the Royal Military Academy.
The
location was the site of a former Victorian school used by local
Muslims as a mosque over the past 14 years.
Still,
Rev Bob Peck of St Martin’s Church claims the mosque plan is not
innocent.
"They
seem to have a political agenda and they want to make a big
statement," he told the Times.
"It’s a
supremacist statement."
Britain
has a sizable Muslim minority of more than two millions, mostly
of Asian backgrounds.
Security
Threat
Tim
Cross, a retired Major-General, describes the mosque as "a
significant security threat."
He
claims the minarets could be used to attack senior members of
the royal family and important military figures who visit the
Royal Military Academy every year.
"Visitors self-evidently provide significant potential targets
being openly on display around the college building and
elsewhere," he told the Times.
The
mosque planning application will be decided by Surrey Heath
Borough Council at a meeting Wednesday.
But the
fierce opposition is already shocking to local Muslims.
Abdul
Wasay Chowdhury, a spokesman for the Bengali Welfare
Association, dismissed security concerns as ungrounded.
He
asserted that access within the minarets would not go beyond the
height of a house as they would be filled in with concrete.
The
Ministry of Defence, which initially had security concerns about
the minaret, has reserved its position after these
clarifications.
"Plans
were revised so that access to the towers would be restricted to
essential maintenance work," it said in a statement.
The
Muslim community leader also dismissed allegations that the
mosque was a political statement.
"We do
not know anything about politics," Chowdhury told the Times.
"We are
simple people who want to do according to our faith."
Source:
http://www.islamonline.net
Date: 2010/04/13
|
