A 40-year-old Hindu temple in Peterborough, UK, established by Indian families expelled from Uganda, is fighting to remain at its current location after the complex it occupies was sold to an Islamic organisation that plans to develop a mosque and community centre on the site.
The Bharat Hindu Samaj (BHS) temple has operated from the New England Complex since 1986. It was founded by families who were forced to leave Uganda following dictator Idi Amin’s expulsion of Asians in 1972.
The New England Complex was later sold by the Labour-led Peterborough City Council to the Khadijah Mosque, part of the United Kingdom Islamic Mission (UKIM), as part of the council’s efforts to reduce its nearly £500 million debt, according to The Telegraph. The report also stated that the sale proceeded despite the temple trustees submitting an offer of £1.3 million, which they claim went unanswered for several months.
"Peterborough City Council informed us in March 2025 that we could purchase the property, and we submitted an offer of £1.3 million. We received no response until September 2025, when we were simply told the process had moved to the best and final offer stage, requiring us to submit another bid," trustee Gauri Chaudhary told India Today TV.
According to The Telegraph, the Khadijah Mosque purchased the complex with plans to establish a "unity centre" featuring prayer halls, classrooms, and sports and recreational facilities.
Although the council’s decision was referred back to its cabinet following public criticism, it was reaffirmed during a meeting in February. In response, the temple trustees secured a court injunction preventing the sale from being completed and raised £86,000 through a GoFundMe campaign supported by donations from around the world, The Telegraph reported.
The matter is now before the UK High Court, where petitioners argue that Peterborough City Council acted unlawfully by deciding to sell the site housing what they describe as the principal place of Hindu worship in eastern England to an Islamic organisation.
WHY DID PETERBOROUGH CITY COUNCIL SELL THE BHS TEMPLE SITE?
The Bharat Hindu Samaj temple, established by families expelled from Uganda under Idi Amin’s regime in 1972, is the only Hindu temple within a 35-mile radius of Peterborough. It serves around 14,000 Hindus across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Lincolnshire.
Beyond religious services, its adjoining community centre hosts a wide range of activities, including badminton and table tennis clubs, yoga sessions, Gujarati and Hindi language classes, healthcare programmes, and a lunch club for senior citizens.
In 2025, Peterborough City Council, led by Labour council leader Shabina Qayyum, decided to sell the former school building at the New England Complex as part of measures to address its debt of nearly £500 million.
Temple trustees, who had been in discussions with the council since 2017 to acquire the property, submitted an offer of £1.3 million. However, they later learned that the complex had been placed on the open market and that the preferred bidder was the Khadijah Mosque, operated by the United Kingdom Islamic Mission (UKIM), a registered UK charity.
The decision disappointed the temple trustees, who had hoped to purchase the site to expand the temple’s community services. Speaking to India Today TV, trustee Gauri Chaudhary said the council failed to respond to their offer for several months.
"Peterborough City Council informed us in March 2025 that we could buy the property, and we offered £1.3 million. We heard nothing until September 2025, when we were informed that the process had reached the best and final offer stage, requiring us to bid again," she said.
The Khadijah Mosque is one of at least nine mosques in Peterborough, a city with a population of approximately 225,000. According to the 2021 UK Census, Muslims account for 12.2% of the city's population, compared with 9.4% in 2011, while Hindus represent 1.8%, up from 1.5% a decade earlier.
According to The Telegraph, the Khadijah Mosque stated that it had outgrown its existing premises after nearly four decades and intended to use the New England Complex to establish a new "unity centre" featuring prayer facilities, classrooms, and sports and recreational spaces.
TEMPLE TRUSTEES SECURE INJUNCTION, MOVE HIGH COURT
Following the council’s decision to sell the complex, Bharat Hindu Samaj trustees obtained an injunction preventing the sale from being completed and raised £86,000 through a GoFundMe campaign, according to The Telegraph.
During a High Court hearing on June 11, Toby Fisher, representing Bharat Hindu Samaj, argued that the legal challenge was directed not at the United Kingdom Islamic Mission but at the lawfulness of Peterborough City Council’s decision-making process, the BBC reported.
Fisher told the court that the temple had been negotiating to purchase the New England Complex since 2017. However, after UKIM submitted its bid in 2024, the council invited final bids before approving the sale to the Islamic organisation in February. Court documents stated that UKIM had agreed to exceed any competing cash offer by up to 5%.
Fisher argued that the council’s process was legally flawed, alleging councillors had accepted officers’ recommendations without proper scrutiny and had failed to fulfil their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 by adequately considering the consequences of displacing the region’s only Hindu temple. Court submissions also highlighted that Bharat Hindu Samaj has no alternative premises, while UKIM operates around 40 centres and 60 branches across the UK, according to the BBC.
Representing Peterborough City Council, Catherine Rowlands rejected those claims, arguing there was no evidence that councillors had been misled or had acted unlawfully. She maintained that the council had fully recognised the temple’s importance and reached its decision only after years of engagement with the trustees through what she described as a transparent, fair, and lawful bidding process.
Although both UKIM and Bharat Hindu Samaj have emphasised that the dispute is not a conflict between faiths, the proposed sale has generated significant concern within Peterborough’s Hindu community. According to The Telegraph, messages circulating locally accused the council of discrimination and questioned why the city’s only Hindu temple was being displaced.
Temple trustee Gauri Chaudhary echoed those concerns during her interview with India Today TV.
"There are 19 other mosques in the city and more than 100 churches. This is the only Hindu temple within a 50-kilometre radius. Peterborough City Council must explain why it decided to displace the city's only Hindu temple in favour of another faith that already has numerous places of worship," she said.
Peterborough City Council leader Shabina Qayyum told The Telegraph that the council would not comment further until the High Court delivers its judgment. She acknowledged that the proposed sale had caused "anxiety and upset" within the Hindu community and said the council remained committed to finding a positive resolution. Qayyum added that officials had been exploring alternative premises for Bharat Hindu Samaj and assured residents that the temple community "will not be left without a home."
As the High Court considers whether the council’s bidding process complied with its legal obligations under the Equality Act, uncertainty continues to surround the future of the region’s only Hindu temple. For now, the court injunction remains in place, preventing the sale from proceeding until a final judgment is delivered.
