A Pakistani man has made a contentious claim that the building of the Hindu temple BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in the neighboring emirate of Abu Dhabi is what caused the recent historic floods in Dubai. This startling assertion was made months after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the temple on February 14, a momentous occasion in the religious landscape of the area.
Known for its arid climate, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently saw unprecedented rainfall—the most in 75 years, according to the National Center of Meteorology. As the city struggled with the aftermath of the deluge, scenes of flooding in Dubai, one of the UAE’s most well-known emirates and the site of COP28 last year, stunned the world.
The Pakistani individual, whose statement gained attention on social media, claimed that Dubai’s inundation was a manifestation of divine retribution, attributing it to the construction of the BAPS Mandir, which he referred to as a temple for “idol worshippers” in the “land of idol breakers.”
"…Prophet Muhammad was an idol breaker; hence, Allah punished Dubai for not following Sunnah…"
– Common Pakistani Islamist pic.twitter.com/5EqxK4GcKi
— Pakistan Untold (@pakistan_untold) April 22, 2024
Notably, PM Modi started conversations about building a Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi during his first visit to the country in 2015. The UAE government then set aside land so that the BAPS temple could be built. PM Modi thanked the UAE government on behalf of the 1.3 billion Indian citizens and praised the temple’s opening on February 14, calling it a “landmark” step.
“The Government of UAE President has fulfilled a bis wish of crores of India with a large heart. Not just here, they have won the hearts of 140 crore Indians,” he had said during his address at the event.
“This temple will become a symbol of communal harmony and global unity for the entire world. UAE’s Minister of Tolerance Sheikh Nahyan Al Mubarak is present here, and the views he expressed were actually words describing the strengthening of our dreams,” PM Modi had added.
However, the Pakistani individual’s interpretation of the recent Dubai floods as a divine punishment has sparked a massive outburst on social media platforms.
Meanwhile, the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) told Khaleej Times that there’s a chance of light to moderate rain on Monday evening in UAE. It added that the weather situation is anticipated to improve by Wednesday with a drop by five to seven degrees in temperature.
“There’s no need for concern; the current situation doesn’t involve heavy rainfall whatsoever. It’s not comparable to last week’s event. It’s not going to be intense; they’re rather moderate, with clouds shifting from the western coast towards the UAE,” Dr Ahmed Habib, a climate expert from NCM, told the outlet.
“There’s a chance of light rain or drizzle. These clouds are headed to Abu Dhabi, resulting in light rainfall, then progressing eastward towards the mountains, where cloud formation could lead to a little over moderate rainfall only in mountainous areas. On Wednesday morning all the cloud cover will move outside the UAE towards Oman,” Dr Habib added.
Following last week’s deluge, scientists attributed the increasingly frequent extreme weather events, including the rains in UAE and Oman, to human-induced global warming.
In the UAE, where rains are rare due to its hot desert climate and temperatures that can exceed 50 degrees Celsius in the summer, the recent downpour came as a stark anomaly.
Read More
Mechanical Devices Installed to Tackle Solid Waste in Bengaluru
