Pig’s head at mosque site

INLSA

Construction workers at a mosque site in Malvern, Queensburgh, were greeted by the grisly discovery of a pigs head, flanked by laminated pictures of pigs, when they reported to work on Thursday morning. Picture Zanele Zulu

A pig’s head and posters of pigs – a clear insult to Muslims – have been placed at a contentious mosque building site in Durban.

The Queensburgh Islamic Society was deciding on Friday on lodging a formal complaint with the Human Rights Commission (HRC).

A furious Iqbal Randeree, chairman of the society, said the gruesome discovery was made by construction workers on Thursday morning.

“I received a call at about 8am from one of the workers informing me there was a pig’s head on site,” said a flabbergasted Randeree, adding that the head was placed between two laminated posters of a pig.

The culprits had scaled a 2m fence.

There are concerns that this act could lead to higher levels of religious intolerance in the future.

The fact that this was done during the holy month of Ramadaan was indicative of the fact that the incident had been carefully timed, he said.

“This was not a spur of the moment thing.

“The culprits planned this act thoroughly because they know that Muslims don’t eat pork for religious reasons and that this is the month of Ramadaan. Whoever did this is trying to frighten us off from continuing with building the mosque, but we won’t back down,” said Randeree.

Although he said he had no suspects in mind, Randeree said he was well aware that some Queensburgh residents were not pleased with the mosque being constructed in the area after a decade of perseverance from the society.

The construction, which began last week and is expected to be completed in February has been delayed for several years after irked residents submitted objections to the eThekwini Municipality.

Tolerance

Randeree recalled how 1 000 objections had been lodged in 2002 when a proposal for sale was advertised in local newspapers.

Randeree, who contacted several of his neighbours to try to ascertain who was responsible for the ghastly act said he had hoped the residents would eventually “come around” and show “neighbourly tolerance”.

The society, he said, had tried to allay residents’ concerns about noise pollution, deciding not to amplify the Azaan (call to prayer) in the morning. “People have to learn to accept the new South Africa,” he said.

The building project, he said, would not be halted.

“These are obviously sick people who wanted to evoke some emotions from us but we won’t stoop to their level. We won’t back down, we will continue with the mosque.”

“We will meet today (Friday) to discuss whether to report the matter to the HRC but we have already informed the police,” he said.

Provincial police spokes-man, Colonel Vincent Mdunge, confirmed that the incident had been reported.

Ahmed Shaikh of the Islamic Propagation Centre International strongly condemned the act calling it religious bigotry.

He said the incident indicated how some communities were finding it difficult to integrate.

“Demographics around the country have changed and facilities in such communities have to cater for all racial and religious groups but some residents are refusing to accept that,” he said.

While South Africa was nowhere near other countries where mosques were continuously attacked and bombed, Shaikh said such action needed to be addressed before it spiralled out of control.

“We have to nip it in the bud now before we become like other countries where there is a high level of religious intolerance,” he said.

Expressing shock at the incident, Ashwin Trikamjee president of the South African Hindu Maha Sabha said it reflected religious intolerance coupled with bullying behaviour.

He described the culprits as narrow-minded people who refuse to accept other people’s religions.

“The sooner we respect other people’s religion the better it will be for the country,” he said, urging the society to report the incident to the HRC.

While he did not have figures, HRC spokesman, Vincent Moaga, said the commission was concerned about the number of religious intolerance cases being reported throughout the country.

“In some instances people become violent and physical, all because they refuse to accept another person’s religion or culture,” he said.

nondumiso.mbuyazi@inl.co.za