Moscow - Nationalist organizations have criticized Moscow Chief Mufti Albir Krganov's initiative to build more mosques in Russia to accommodate the needs of the large inflow of immigrants from Muslim countries.
“This approach is not totally correct,” chairman of the Russkiye
movement’s supervisory board Alexander Belov told Interfax on Tuesday.
“It is necessary to decide once and for all – whether Russia will
turn into an Islamic state or will remain a secular state, where foreign
immigrants come, find jobs and leave after their work is over,” he
said.
“If immigrants live no one knows where but want to build a mosque in my yard, this approach is certainly wrong,” Belov said.
“It is necessary to restore order to the immigration processes and
understand where, to which region foreign immigrants should come, where
they are needed, and where roads should be built – in Moscow or in
Siberia,” he said.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Moscow’s chief mufti
proposed building new mosques in Russia in response to the massive
inflow of immigrants from Muslim countries.
“We are troubled by the shortage of places to pray,” he said.
“If the state is accepting such large numbers of immigrants today, we
ought to sort out this issue as well,” said Krganov, who also holds the
post of deputy head of Russia’s Spiritual Muslim Board.
“It is necessary to decide where they [immigrants] should live and
who will work with them. If they do not come to official structures –
the Spiritual Board, official mosques – they will be engaged in
religious practices on their own in other places. And we will not know
who preaches there and what they discuss,” Krganov said.
