Posted on 11/13/2004 4:03:55 AM PST by thierrya
Muslims to fight bar bid near mosque
JASON CUMMING
RELIGIOUS leaders have attacked a multi-million-pound plan to build a pub just yards from Edinburgh’s Central Mosque.
Pub tycoon Kenny Waugh wants to redevelop a long vacant site at the corner of Nicolson Square and Nicolson Street into a style bar.
But the Capital’s Muslim community has launched a campaign against the development over fears it will disrupt prayers and stir up racial tensions.
They claim the area is "oversaturated" with nightspots and say that frequent harassment from drunken revellers is already a major problem for people using the Potterrow place of worship. A petition against the scheme has attracted hundreds of signatures.
The fresh campaign comes only 14 months after plans to open a new bar and restaurant close to the mosque were rejected by city councillors, who agreed the area was "sensitive" and that the proposal was likely to cause an unacceptable increase in disturbance.
Jalal Chaudry, who as the Edinburgh and East of Scotland representative on the Muslim Council of Britain represents the 9000 Muslims in the Lothians, today admitted the latest pub plan had left many people in the community "very disturbed and upset".
The two other gates of the mosque already feature licensed establishments nearby and community leaders were forced to install CCTV after drunken passers-by repeatedly stole worshippers’ shoes.
Mr Chaudry said: "We’d like Nicolson Square to be revitalised but not with a pub.
"When some people become drunk they start confronting worshippers - and when some people see an Asian lady in a hijab [veil] it seems to give them an ‘excuse’ to swear and make racial comments.
"Race relations in the city are already bad and we do not want these to get worse. We do not want to have gangs of Asian Scots and indigenous Scots fighting each other like in Glasgow.
"Prayer places are built so people can get peace of mind. We hope the city councillors will take that into account."
Labour councillor Shami Khan - who also is a member of the city’s Pakistan Society - also expressed dismay over the project.
He said: "Putting a pub beside a church or a mosque is going to cause trouble.
"Drunk people coming out from the pubs and clubs cause nuisance and mayhem near the mosque and there has been racial abuse. We are a peace-loving community but we fear this will cause friction between communities."
It is understood that a firm owned by Festival Inns boss Mr Waugh, the son of former Hibs chairman Kenny Sr, purchased the gap site in September in a £1 million-plus deal. The property has lain derelict since a fire in 1992.
A planning application lodged in the name of Surgeons Hall Development Ltd for the site also includes 12 student flats and office space. In a "statement of justification" submitted to Edinburgh City Council on the company’s behalf by architectural consultant James Clydesdale and Associates, the firm said the style bar would be similar to the Festival Inns-owned Biblos in Chambers Street.
It claims that a pub is the "only viable use" for the 420 square metre ground-floor unit - which would remain open until 1am.
The statement said:
"The development proposed recognises the history of the site and articulates building modelling taken from original styles in the area.
"The applicant is willing to work with the city in the revitalisation programme for Nicolson Square."
City councillors are expected to rule on the proposal early next month.
Mr Waugh was unavailable for comment.
I can’t really visualize a church, synagogue or mosque welcoming a bar next door. I have yet to hear of a bar trying to block a church.
If the muslims don't get their way.....get ready for a bar bombing.
The Islamic Nazis will behead the Scots in their beds.
Better to raze the mosque, then build the pub.
If the muslims don't get their way.....get ready for a bar bombing.
If that happens, some bar patron might “go Dutch” on the mosque.
Edinburgh Central Mosque and Islamic Centre was designed by Dr Basil Bayati in a happy blend of Scottish and Arabic styles. The Mosque was finished in 1998...
"drunken passers-by repeatedly stole worshippers’ shoes."
LOL!!!
There was beer before there was the moon cult now known as Isalm...STFU.
Drunks stealing shoes, now that's funny.
Al-Qohol akbar!
"Al-Qohol akbar!"
Nice one!
Too bad William Wallace isn't around these days.
LOL!
31/07/1998 HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahd opens Edinburgh Mosque and Islamic Center
Minister of State, HRH Prince Abdulaziz, on Friday, 31st July, officially opened Edinburgh’s new Mosque and Islamic Center. A three-day cultural symposium followed the opening.
Prince Abdulaziz, accompanied by the Saudi Ministers for Islamic Affairs and Justice and Ambassador Al-Gosaibi was welcomed by the Rt. Hon. Donald Dewar MP, Secretary of State for Scotland; Henry McLeich MP, Scottish Home Affairs Minister and Eric Milligan, Lord Provost of Edinburgh.
The Mosque and Islamic Center, built at a cost of 3.5 million pounds will provide prayer facilities for up to 1,200 people. This development in Edinburgh is an integral part of King Fahd’s policy to support Muslims all over the world. Prince Abdulaziz has a personal interest in the initiative having recently performed the inauguration ceremonies of Mosques and Islamic Centers in Paris and Los Angeles. The Edinburgh Mosque and Islamic Center has been named after King Fahd and is now a focal point for 10,000 Muslim families living in Scotland.
Al-Qohol is a highly dedicated, mainstream Qeltic party that maintains hundreds of thousands holy sites around the world. The liturgy is quite variable. The most dangerous adherents are mobile and engage in individual worship.
I suggest to build a pub inside the mosque, and a mosque inside the pub.
That would improve the Intercultural Exchange!
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