TO mark Eid, the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Nelson’s Column was illuminated this week with the words ‘Eid Mubarak’, a traditional Muslim greeting meaning ‘Blessed celebration’.
London’s Muslim Mayor, Sadiq Khan, tweeted pictures:
Oddly there has been little or no mention of the event in the MSM and we can only assume that the Mayor authorised the light show.
The 169ft 3in monument was constructed in Trafalgar Square between 1840 and 1843 to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 when the British Navy defeated the combined fleets of France and Spain. There is no known Muslim connection with the battle or the monument.
One wonders what the reaction would be if a Christian cross were projected on to the Taj Mahal, the World Heritage Site described by Unesco as ‘the jewel of Muslim art in India’, although it is hard to imagine the circumstances in which that would be permitted.
Feel free to discuss this or anything else on your mind.
