A Muslim billionaire Asif Aziz has been granted permission to build a 390 capacity mosque in the heart of London’s entertainment quarter. The move comes after the Westminster Council gave the green signal to build the mosque.
Speaking about the confirmation to build the mosque by Asif Aziz, a council spokesperson said, “A planning application by the Aziz Foundation to convert a part of the London Trocadero was approved by the council’s planning committee in May 2023.”
However, critics have questioned whether the mosque should be built in an area which has alcohol-serving bars, nightclubs, and Soho’s gay venues and strip joints – all of which are shunned by Islam as sinful.
He's got a foot in the door. Any bets on how long these – area filled with alcohol-serving bars, nightclubs, and Soho's gay venues and strip joints – last …
— ALvasman (@alvasman) July 17, 2023
In 2020, Aziz had applied to build a 1,000-person capacity mosque. However, the plan was put on the backburner owing to retaliation from the residents.
Know all about Trocadero where Mosque will be built by Asif Aziz
The Trocadero is situated between Picadilly Circus and Soho and it had first opened in 1896 as a restaurant. Trocadero is among the central London’s most famous entertainment complexes which features an 11-storey, 490-room hotel called the Zedwell.
However, nearly seven decade old restaurant closed in 1965. It was in 1984 that it reopened as an exhibition space. Its baroque façade was kept intact and it was only in 1996 that arcade-style attractions were added.
The centre saw growth in the 1990s after Pepsi and Sega took up its sponsorship. Meanwhile by 1997 the Trocadero was home to the UK’s first 3D IMAX cinema.
Withdrawal of sponsorship
The investment made by the sponsors did not yield the desired result as there was no surge in the numbers. It was in 1999 that Sega withdrew from sponsorship.
Segaworld was rebranded as Funland and there was no change in the name till the time it closed in 2011.
Five years hence, Pepsi also moved back from the Trocadero and it was then that billionaire Asif Azis stepped in and Asif Aziz’s property company Criterion Capital bought the building and put forward a plan to redevelop it. Aziz bought the Trocadero itself for more than £220 million ($363 million).
According to reports the mosque would be set up through the charitable organisation, the Aziz Foundation.
Objective of setting up the Mosque
One of the primary aims of setting up the mosque is to enable the Muslims who are working in that area to offer prayers.
Netizens Slam the move to build the Mosque
The decision has not gone down well with the netizens as they took to the microblogging site to denounce the decision.
P Allan said that it was the beginning of two tier society.
This is what happens when you let one particular religion infiltrate councils…this is just the beginning of a two tier society
— P Allan (@drivingasap) July 17, 2023
Steve Macdonald said that soon the UK would finish.
https://twitter.com/steve_macdonald/status/1680987017746821120?s=20
Meanwhile, Aziz was described as Britain’s ‘meanest landlord’ as during COVID -19, when the lockdown was imposed, he threatened West End tenants, including chains like Caffe Concerto, with winding-up petitions if they failed to pay the rent on time.
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