Peterborough's only Hindu temple is battling in the High Court after the city's Labour-led council approved the sale of the building to an Islamic organization.
The Bharat Hindu Samaj, which has served around 14,000 Hindus across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire for 40 years, says it had already agreed a £1.3 million purchase price with the council. However, the council instead chose to sell the site to Khadijah Mosque, part of the United Kingdom Islamic Mission, as it seeks to reduce its £500 million debt.
The temple, founded by families expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin in 1972, is the only Hindu temple within a 35-mile radius and also hosts yoga classes, language lessons, sports clubs and activities for elderly residents.
After the council upheld the sale in February, the Hindu community secured an injunction blocking it and has since raised more than £119,000 through crowdfunding to fund a judicial review.
The temple's legal team argues the council acted unlawfully by failing to comply with the Equality Act 2010, saying the closure would have a dramatic impact on the local Hindu community.
According to the 2021 Census, Peterborough has 2,104 Hindus compared with 23,126 Muslims. Some members of the Hindu community say losing their only temple while several mosques already exist in the city feels discriminatory, with one saying it "feels like we're being expelled again."
The council insists it followed a fair legal process and says Hindus will not be left without a place of worship, while Khadijah Mosque says it has outgrown its current premises and plans to create a larger community facility with prayer halls, classrooms and sports facilities.
🔸Peterborough City Council positions
-Leader: Shabina Qayyum
-Finance: Mohammed Jamil
-Communities: Zameer Ali
-Public Health: Ann Shaheed
-Growth/Regeneration: Numan Ali Iqbal
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How Bhindrawale’s goons abducted young women, raped em inside GoldenTemple complex, buried their bodies under AkalTakht.
PS: 2yrs ago I’d found a doc who was taken to perform abortions of such women —gave doc’s contact to @BDUTT. Guess doc still terrified.
Hello @diljitdosanjh
You should be ashamed of your Hypocrisy.
Punjab has come a long way from the dark days of Khalistani terror.
Don't play with fire again.
Cancer patient was about to die. She pleaded. Her plea has been listed 57 times. The court has still not heard it. Teesta Setalvad was about to be jailed. She pleaded. Her plea was listed out of turn. The court heard it at midnight.
Cancer patient is dead. Teesta is alive.
No @SupriyaShrinate Mam! But since you are the greatest authority on Hindu Mythology and Sanatan Dharam, would love to get educated by you. Jai Shri ram! Please reply back by writing JAI SHRI RAM! .Regards! 🙏🕉
Ravneet Singh Bittu has urged Punjabi Hindus to come forward and tell the world about the massacre of 25,000 Hindus by Khalistani terrorists.
If Hindus don't do it now then more propaganda movie like #Satluj will come and paint brave Cop like KPS Gill as villain.
A 125-year-old Sikh Gurdwara has been bulldozed in Pakistan. This is an attack on Sikh faith, history and heritage. A sacred site that stood for over a century has been reduced to rubble, adding to a long list of incidents targeting minority religious sites.
Those responsible must face strict punishment and the Gurdwara must be restored immediately.
The international community cannot remain silent when religious heritage is destroyed in broad daylight. @UN@UNHumanRights , how many more such incidents before meaningful action is taken?
“We are slipping further into Israel’s strategic orbit, at a time when the world is increasingly pivoting away from it. The Prime Minister’s visit to Israel will go down in history as a bewildering strategic decision.
The spirit of Indian nationhood demands that we speak up for our Palestinian brothers and sisters whose children have been so brutally targeted.”
Through her editorial, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji calls on India to reclaim its independent foreign policy, uphold humanitarian values, and speak up with moral clarity on Gaza.
Let's tag @MehboobaMufti and tell her how Girija Tickoo was cut alive into two pieces with a carpenter saw & her body thrown on the roadside on this very day, 25 June 1990 in Kashmir.
We cannot ever move on with life and forget the massacre of our own.
NEVER FORGET.