08-10-2008, 12:39 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Idols of Shiv, Ganesh desecrated in Trinidad </b>
Pioneer.com
Paras Ramoutar | Port-of-Spain
Idols of Shiv and Ganesh were desecrated in a temple in Trinidad. Vandals damaged the Idols at the Kolahal Shiva Temple, Chaguanas in Central Trinidad on Monday. The incident took place a year after a gang of young men went to the temple by the sea in Waterloo on August 4, 2007 and destroyed idols including those of gods Shiva and Krishna and goddess Durga. No one has been charged so far for the incident. The desecration angered members of the Hindu community.
Satnarayan Maharaj, secretary general of the Sanatan Dharam Maha Sabha, while condemning the incident, said it was the handiwork of 'a handful of extremists, who are bent upon sowing the seeds of discord between Hindus and Muslims in Trinidad and Tobago'.
"The Hindu temple and the mosque which both religious groups use, stand next to each other. Both Hindus and Muslims share each other's concerns and pains and triumphs in the community at all times. Why must some extremist groups intervene in the peaceful co-existence between Hindus and Muslims," Maharaj said.
Imam Sheik Fazal Mohamed of the nearby mosque said the "suspects were not members of our mosque and what they did had reflected badly on the Islamic community. I hope they are caught and made to pay for the damages".
<b>A witness said that he saw two men knock down the idols and leave in a car. The ownership of the car has been confirmed. Mohamed said: "Everyone is allowed to worship in their own way. What those men did was unIslamic and illegal. The murtis (idols) were not on the masjid's compound. They went into the temple and desecrated them and that was wrong." </b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pioneer.com
Paras Ramoutar | Port-of-Spain
Idols of Shiv and Ganesh were desecrated in a temple in Trinidad. Vandals damaged the Idols at the Kolahal Shiva Temple, Chaguanas in Central Trinidad on Monday. The incident took place a year after a gang of young men went to the temple by the sea in Waterloo on August 4, 2007 and destroyed idols including those of gods Shiva and Krishna and goddess Durga. No one has been charged so far for the incident. The desecration angered members of the Hindu community.
Satnarayan Maharaj, secretary general of the Sanatan Dharam Maha Sabha, while condemning the incident, said it was the handiwork of 'a handful of extremists, who are bent upon sowing the seeds of discord between Hindus and Muslims in Trinidad and Tobago'.
"The Hindu temple and the mosque which both religious groups use, stand next to each other. Both Hindus and Muslims share each other's concerns and pains and triumphs in the community at all times. Why must some extremist groups intervene in the peaceful co-existence between Hindus and Muslims," Maharaj said.
Imam Sheik Fazal Mohamed of the nearby mosque said the "suspects were not members of our mosque and what they did had reflected badly on the Islamic community. I hope they are caught and made to pay for the damages".
<b>A witness said that he saw two men knock down the idols and leave in a car. The ownership of the car has been confirmed. Mohamed said: "Everyone is allowed to worship in their own way. What those men did was unIslamic and illegal. The murtis (idols) were not on the masjid's compound. They went into the temple and desecrated them and that was wrong." </b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->