Posted on April 7, 2011 by creeping
An update on this 2010 post, Defence chiefs fight giant mosque plans overlooking military academy. Strategic placement?
via Express.co.uk – Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: Battle to stop 100ft mosque at Sandhurst.
The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers… ~ Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan (jailed for reciting that “poem”)
BUILDING a mosque with 100ft minarets overlooking Sandhurst military college would cause needless and drastic changes to an historic town, it was claimed yesterday.
A planning inquiry into the scheme was told the design would mean demolishing a former Victorian school and obliterate the view of a wood.
The local Bengali Welfare Association wants to build the mosque with minarets, classrooms and a morgue on the site of the former school in Camberley, Surrey.
But Ministry of Defence officials raised concerns that the minarets would overlook Sandhurst Royal Military Academy parade ground – used by every new officer recruit in the Army.
Local historians and residents also argue that the town’s heritage should be protected.
John Pugh-Smith, a barrister representing a local pressure group, claimed that the mosque’s features were not required by Islamic tradition.
He said evidence from Dr Taj Hargey, chairman of the Muslim
Educational Centre of Oxford and Imam of Oxford Islamic Congregation, will also show a sexist bias in the plans.
The local Bengali Welfare Association wants to build the mosque with minarets, classrooms and a morgue
“He will explain that neither the large dome nor the two minarets, features that would dominate the surrounding street scene, are required aspects of Islam.
“Dr Hargey also draws attention to the fact that the proposed development would promote gender inequality by keeping women separate from the body of the prayer hall and only allocating approximately 15 per cent of the available space for their needs.
“This manifest imbalance in space and facilities for women is in defiance of and not in conformity with Islam. It is also contrary to current UK government gender equality initiatives.”
The inquiry is considering Surrey Heath Borough Council’s decision to reject the plans. Christopher Lockhart-Mummery QC, for the Bengali group, rejected claims that the mosque would pose a security risk or overlook the college.
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