Scottish Mosque Plans to Install CCTV after Staff Subjected to Abuse
The Scottish Islamic and Cultural Centre at the city’s Dura Street has lodged an application with Scottish City Council.
The application states that the center is seeking planning permission to install CCTV cameras outside mosque premises to increase the security and safety of mosque attendees.
It states: “This proposal is in response to recent attacks outside British mosques.”
The application was submitted to the council by trustee of the center Talat Mahmood.
If approved, two security cameras will be installed, one on either side of the door to the facility.
The decision to install the cameras has been taken to try to make the center safer for users, particularly as it is used by a lot of children in the evenings after school.
A trustee for the center, Mahmud Salwar Rathor, told the Evening Telegraph that the center has already had troublemakers abuse staff through the intercom.
He said: “The installation of the cameras is entirely for the safety of the community.”
Bashir Chohan, chairman of the Dundee Islamic Society, said: “The reality is the authorities cannot be there all the time. At least with the security cameras there would be some sort evidence there to catch the culprits.”
In September last year, vandals targeted a site secured by the Perth Islamic Society for its new purpose-built place of worship — spraying anti-Muslim graffiti.
The words “No Muslims” were painted over a sign on Jeanfield Road.
Hate crimes targeting mosques across the UK more than doubled between 2016 and 2017.
Police forces recorded 110 hate crimes directed at Muslim places of worship between March and July last year, up from 47 over the same six- month period in 2016.
Source: Evening Telegraph
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