Mosque plan more on politics

It must have tugged at the heartstrings of every politically correct, liberal do-gooder in the borough of Dudley to hear Kurshid Ahmed and his supporters' claims of racism, islamophobia and the death of democracy.All this in a single evening after the rejection of their mosque project bid by the Dudley Development Committee on February 27.

Ahmed further gave us the benefit of a host of soundbites in defence of the failure of the project - misconception of Islam, far right extremist groups playing on people's fears, the death of democracy and a signal that Muslims do not belong here.

On reading such comments, one could have been led to believe that the very fabric of society was falling apart. In reality such political claptrap will do nothing but damage to race relations in Dudley, and add insult to the people, who have over the years accepted and embraced many faiths and cultures into our region.

"An appeal is our only option," stated Mr Ahmed. "It is our land, we paid for it, we have nowhere to go." May I suggest you do have somewhere to go - sell the land to a property developer for a project that will truly promote Dudley and its regeneration programme, to benefit all the people and not just a small section of it.

No religion should be denied a place of worship, but the grandeur, scale and prominence of position only lead me to believe that the project was based on a political statement, rather than a religious requirement, by the Dudley Muslim Association.

Can I urge the people of Dudley to remain vigilant during the appeals procedure by the DMA and send a heartfelt thanks to UKIP councillor Malcolm Davis for his valiant efforts in opposing the proposal. Thanks also to the Express & Star for their coverage on such an important local issue.

J G Bowater, Sunningdale Drive, Tividale.