Anti-mosque posters found at mosque site in Lincoln
Categories: Latest News
Tuesday March 22 2016
The Lincolnshire Echo and The Lincolnite report on the launch of a police investigation after anti-Islamic posters were found at a building site where a new mosque is due to be built in the city.
One of the posters bore the message “no more mosques” and appeared overnight on the gates of the construction site of the planned mosque on Thursday 17 March 2016.
The Lincolnshire division of the English Defence League (EDL) has claimed responsibility for the posters. In an interview with The Lincolnite, EDL member, Paul Whiteside, said: “The media aren’t telling you what’s really going off, grooming gangs all over the UK, terrorists storing weapons in mosques all over Europe. We are afraid that this is coming to Lincoln. The people of Lincoln should be aware of what’s happening around the UK. Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxford, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, Sheffield (grooming).”
In response to the discovery of the posters the chairman of the Islamic Association of Lincoln, Dr Tanweer Ahmed, said the messages were “hurtful” and “disappointing” but insisted that they would not deter the local community from building the mosque after plans gained widespread support from the local community in Lincoln.
He said: “It is totally disappointing. We have been working closely with Boultham Park Road residents and people of Lincoln, who have always been very supportive of mosque construction. While these types of acts are hurtful, the Islamic association has not been deterred and we will continue to work with the local community. Anyone with misunderstandings about Islam should come to talk to us. The mosque itself will be open to all faiths as a community facility – it is for everyone – we are not restricting it to Muslims. We know we have strong support from the people of Lincoln. The posters are not helpful but they are not going to stop us.”
A spokesperson from Lincolnshire Police confirmed that an investigation is underway and that officers had visited the site the following morning, on Friday 18 March 2016. The spokesperson said: “The posters were taken down by staff upon discovery. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 101 or contact Inspector Suzanne Davies, Community Policing Inspector for Lincoln South West Policing area directly.”
The mosque in Lincoln is expected to be completed by November 2016.
In recent years, the EDL and other far right groups have planned a number of anti-mosque protests in Lincoln. In 2013, a splinter group, the East Anglian Patriots, planned a protest at the existing construction site after Lincoln City Council approved plans for the site to be converted into a mosque.
Following the initial protest, a second protest was held in the city in January 2014. At the time, Jean Flannery, President of Boultham Residents Association, said: “The anti-mosque protest would appear to be simply a vehicle for the promotion of anti-Muslim feeling and far right views.”
In July 2015, the EDL held an anti-Islam demonstration in the city again, to protest against the planned mosque. A post on the far right group’s Facebook page promoting the event was titled “Lincolnshire Against Islam” and read: “Historic Lincolnshire says no to Islam and its barbaric ways, with the mosque now being built in Lincoln, and to make the people of Lincolnshire aware of what is coming our way.”
At that time, Nick Parker, a spokesperson for Lincoln Against Racism and Fascism, said: “The EDL is trying to whip up tension under the pretext that a mosque will be built in Lincoln. We believe that the right to worship freely is a basic democratic right. You don’t have to follow Islam or any religion to seek to defend that right. However, the underlying reason for the protest by the EDL is to try to foster division in our community.”