"WE DO
NOT NEED
EITHER A MOSQUE OR AN ORTHODOX SCHOOL"
In
Samara,
signatures against construction of a building are being
collected
Federal
Press, 9
September 2019
An
initiative group
of citizens has organized a collection of signatures to prohibit
construction
of an Orthodox school on the territory of a stadium. Earlier it
was proposed to
allot a part of the territory to the Muslim community of Samara
oblast for
constructing a mosque.
The
"Saliut"
stadium, located in the village of Mekhzavod of the Krasnoglinsk
district of
Samara, has become a religious "stumbling block." Several sports
facilities are located on the territory of the stadium: two
football fields, a
covered ice arena, an athletics gym, an open workout area, and
walking paths.
Also here, in the late 90s of the last century, a church of the
Kazan Mother of
God was erected. A part of the stadium is overgrown with trees
and shrubs.
In
August of this
year, residents of the village were surprised to learn that it
was intended to
erect a mosque at the stadium next to the ice arena. An
initiative group of
Mekhzavodians collected, within one day, almost 1,000 signatures
to prevent the
construction and it presented them at public hearings. The
Department of
Construction of Samara rescinded permission for constructing a
religious
facility. The Muslim community is planning to continue to seek
placing of a
liturgical building on the basis that inter-religious hostility
is not the best
environment for neighborliness and appealing to the tolerance of
Samarans.
Earlier
the Samara
Department of Construction issued a permit for construction of a
general
education Orthodox school on the same Saliut stadium (next to
the church). The
school is already operating, but it is on the first floor of a
residential
building. The number of pupils is growing and there is a need to
find a new
location. The Samara diocese decided to erect a full-fledged
school, especially
since the parcel of land on which it is intended to build it has
been RPTs
property since 2015 (according to the cadastral map). In July
2019 public
hearings occurred and now work is underway to clear the area and
prepare the
site (4000 square meters). Having disagreed with the presence of
a religious
Muslim facility, Samarans just as decisively opposed the
Orthodox one. As of
now, a collection of signatures is underway for preventing the
construction of
the school.
We note
that the
construction ministry of Samara oblast has confirmed the
legality of the RPTs's
receiving a permit. (tr. by PDS, posted 10 September 2019)
PROJECT OF
BUILDING MOSQUE IN VILLAGE
OF MEKHZAVOD AGAIN REJECTED IN SAMARA
SOVA Center
for News and Analysis, 9
September 2019
In Samara,
about 900 persons voted
against construction of a mosque in village of Mekhzavod.
On 22 August
2019, in Samara, a project
for constructing a mosque in the village of Mekhzavod was again
rejected.
The formal
reason for this decision,
made at public hearings, was "897 negative opinions in written
form,"
expressed against construction of a mosque.
We recall, the
administration of the
city allocated a plot of 1,000 square meters for building a
mosque, although
this is not the first year that the Muslim cannot get approval
of the project,
because of, among other reasons, the protest of local residents.
A previous
project was rejected in October 2017, and protests against
building began even
earlier, in October 2016. (tr. by PDS, posted 10 September 2019)
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