Mosque desecrations like terrorism‚ says Muslim group

Two incidents in which Cape Town mosques were desecrated should be treated like terror attacks‚ says the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC).

The call came after a pig snout was left on the gate of Simon’s Town Mosque and an intruder smeared blood inside Kalk Bay Mosque. Police confirmed on Tuesday that they were investigating both incidents‚ which have been condemned by City of Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille.

MJC spokesman Shuaib Appleby said the police should approach the incidents as terrorist activities. "Even though people are not being killed [they must treat them] with the same kind of diligence and the same kind of expertise‚" he told The Times.

"I think it is important also that [the mosques] should be treated as crime scenes‚ meaning no evidence should be erased. If any other mosque is attacked‚ they should keep it as such until the police arrive."

He said the perpetrators may not have used bombs but their violation of the sanctity of the mosques had the same effect as a petrol bomb. Ahmad Sity‚ imam at the Kalk Bay mosque‚ said the were still waiting for the police to complete their investigation.

 He played down fears of a coordinated Islamophobic campaign‚ saying that could be confirmed only after the police completed their investigations. Zille’s spokesman‚ Michael Mpofu‚ said: "We condemn these acts of desecration and vandalism in the strongest terms.

Our society is founded on constitutional values of respect‚ tolerance and freedom. Acts of religious or racial prejudice have no place in our province and nation." Western Cape police spokesman FC Van Wyk confirmed that cases of crimen injuria and malicious damage to property had been opened. No arrests had been made. - TMG Digital/The Times