Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Mosque CCTV plans
Security to be installed in wake of attacks in UK
A MUSLIM community centre is looking to increase its security by installing CCTV cameras outside its premises.
The Scottish Islamic and Cultural Centre at the city’s Dura Street has lodged an application with Dundee City Council.
The application states that the centre 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 i n response to recent attacks outside British mosques.”
The application was submitted to the council by trustee of the centre 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 centre safer for users, particularly as it is used by a lot of children in the evenings after school.
A trustee for the centre, Mahmud Salwar Rathor, told the Evening Telegraph that the centre 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 sixmonth period in 2016. Ourvoice PAGE 16