Peterborough's only Hindu temple is battling in the High Court not to convrt Islamic organization

🇬🇧 Peterborough's only Hindu temple is battling in the High Court after the city's Labour-led council approved the sale of the building to an Islamic organization.

The Bharat Hindu Samaj, which has served around 14,000 Hindus across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire for 40 years, says it had already agreed a £1.3 million purchase price with the council. However, the council instead chose to sell the site to Khadijah Mosque, part of the United Kingdom Islamic Mission, as it seeks to reduce its £500 million debt.

The temple, founded by families expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin in 1972, is the only Hindu temple within a 35-mile radius and also hosts yoga classes, language lessons, sports clubs and activities for elderly residents.

After the council upheld the sale in February, the Hindu community secured an injunction blocking it and has since raised more than £119,000 through crowdfunding to fund a judicial review.

The temple's legal team argues the council acted unlawfully by failing to comply with the Equality Act 2010, saying the closure would have a dramatic impact on the local Hindu community.

According to the 2021 Census, Peterborough has 2,104 Hindus compared with 23,126 Muslims. Some members of the Hindu community say losing their only temple while several mosques already exist in the city feels discriminatory, with one saying it "feels like we're being expelled again."

The council insists it followed a fair legal process and says Hindus will not be left without a place of worship, while Khadijah Mosque says it has outgrown its current premises and plans to create a larger community facility with prayer halls, classrooms and sports facilities.