Plans for Lodi School and Center Continue After 10 Years

August 11, 2005

Source: Lodi News-Sentinel

http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2005/08/11/news/2_farooqia_qna_050811.txt

On August 11, 2005 the Lodi News-Sentinel reported, "The Farooqia Islamic Center, a school and worship center planned for south of Lodi, was conceived by members of the Lodi Muslim Mosque more than a decade ago. However, there have been recent allegations that a school on the site could become linked to a Pakistani campus that allegedly grooms known terrorists linked to al-Qaida. In an interview with News-Sentinel staff writer Sara Cardine, who covers the Muslim community, Farooqia supporters, including board member Nasim Khan and former mosque Vice President Shujah Khan, discussed the status of the project... Nasim Khan, [responding to the allegations, says:] 'We don't carry connections with anything abroad. The school is not a madrassah, like it's being portrayed -- it's a regular school... The project is not even off the ground yet. Let it be built and function, then scrutinize it.'"