Date: 25/10/2015
While most Britons and all the NRI's living in the United Kingdom would like the Muslims to go back to their Islamic lands to enjoy the blessings of their RASUL ALLAH, the ambition, cheek and audacity of the Muslims seem to know no end as the following news item will show. They want to build the world's biggest mosque in England, a step that many natives consider suicidal!
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MOSQUE TRIPLE THE SIZE OF ST. PAUL’S IS REJECTED.
By Andrew Gilligan.
The Government has blocked an Islamic group with alleged links to fundamentalism from building Britain’s biggest mosque, ending a battle of 16 years.
The controversial plans by the Tablighi Jamaat sect- accused by some of being a gateway to terrorism- would have created a “mega-mosque” with 190 ft minarets and three times the floor space of St Paul’s Cathedral. The planned 290,000 sq. ft. mosque, near the Olympic Park in east London, would have accommodated up to 9,300 worshipers in two main gender-segregated prayer halls and a further 2,000 in a separate hall.
The bitter struggle has involved street blockades, accusations of racism, a High Court action and even a video “obituary,” linked from the mosque website, making implicit death threats to the main opponent of the plans and his family.
The scheme, officially known as the Abbey Mills Markaz or the Riverine Centre, was rejected by the local council, Newham, as long ago as December 2012, with councillors saying the building was too large.
Tablighi Jamaat appealed, taking the application to a three-week public inquiry in summer last year. The inquiry inspector’s report was submitted to the Government in January, but ministers have been sitting on it since then because of its political sensitivity.
However, sources close to the process say that the Communities Secretary, Greg Clark, has now made the final decision to block it.
“This proposal has created a great deal of division in Newham,” said one person with knowledge of the decision. “That would get a lot worse if the thing was built.”
Alan Craig, a former Newham councillor who led the campaign against the mosque said, “This is fantastic news. For a decade and a half, Tablighi Jamaat has pulled out every stop to get its way, but at last the spectre is over.”
In 2007 Mr Craig was the subject of a video “obiutuary” entitled “In memory of Councillor Alan Craig”, featuring him, his wife and two daughters. The mosque website carried a link to the YouTube page where the video appeared.
During the planning process, protesters from a body called the Newham People’s Alliance, set up to express “community support” for the mosque, blockaded the offices where the planning committee was meeting.
The NPA included extremists connected to Lutfur Rahman, the former mayor of neighbouring Tower Hamlets disqualified for corruption. It ran a virulent campaign against Sir Robin Wales, mayor of Newham, calling him “”Dirty Robin,” a “Zionist” and a racist.
While extremist groups including the BNP and EDL, campaigned online against the plans.
Tablighi Jamaat already has a temporary mosque for 2,500 worshippers on the site, which it has owned since 1996. It originally produced plans for a new mosque with a capacity of 40,000 but scaled them back after protests.
Tablighi Jamaat* is an ultra-conservative and separatist group that believes Muslims should not integrate into non-Muslim society. But its links with radicalism and terrorism are disputed, with many experts saying it is peaceful and non-political.
-The Daily Telegraph, London, 25 October 2015.
*literally: Body or Group to Convert to Islam.
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