Fury as student teacher is reprimanded by university bosses

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MMU student told his course leader he was 'extremely concerned' about Batley

Batley Grammar teacher is under police protection after showing picture in class

MMU student said he worried about the 'cowardly response from the unions and other bodies connected to teaching' amid the row over the Batley teacher

By Henry Martin For Mailonline

Published: 13:22, 13 May 2021 | Updated: 16:44, 13 May 2021

A teacher trainee was hauled before a fitness to practise meeting after saying he 'would not hesitate' to use images of the Prophet Mohammed in a class - sparking a fierce backlash from freedom of speech advocates.

The Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) student had told his course leader he was 'extremely concerned' about the recent case of a teacher at Batley Grammar School who was suspended after he showed an image of the prophet to pupils.

The Batley, West Yorkshire teacher and his family are still under police protection, and the threat to their safety is judged as so severe that even their relatives do not know where they are now living, more than six weeks after fleeing their home.

The MMU student, who is set to complete his Postgraduate Certificate in Education course this summer, had written an email to his course leader on April 1 saying he worried about the 'cowardly response from the unions and other bodies connected to teaching', The Telegraph reports.

'I would like to know whether or not MMU is prepared to stand up for any student who finds themselves in a similar position,' he added, arguing that the protests which arose amid the row were a 'clear attempt to enforce a de facto blasphemy law on teachers and schools'.

'I would not hesitate to use drawings of any religious figure, including Mohammed, and I certainly will not bow to any pressure from protests, and I would like to think that my university will stand with me,' he said.

The course leader did not reply, but one month later the student was contacted by the head of the teacher education department demanding he attend a 'fitness to practise cause for concern meeting'.

The reaction has prompted fury as critics voiced their support for the trainee teacher.

The Free Speech Union said: 'It is absolutely ludicrous that a trainee teacher could be barred from teaching for supporting the Batley Grammar School teacher over the Mohammed cartoons.

'There is no blasphemy law in England, nor should there ever be again.'

Social media users agreed with the union's statement, with one saying: 'Where are all the teachers backing him up? Should be ashamed of themselves.'

Another said: '@GavinWilliamson I'm a teacher. The profession is being intimidated. The people in charge of education acquiesce to the demands of a religion.'

A third said: 'He should not be fighting to keep his job, this is a clear case of the tail wagging the dog. The people at the top need to stand up, grow a pair and tell everyone that they will not be cowed or intimidated in this way.'

The fitness meeting could result in a referral to a Fitness to Practise Panel following the MMU student's comments claiming he would be willing to show the picture of Mohammed in class, he was told.

The head of department told him it could be a breach of Teachers' Standards - which include upholding 'public trust in the profession'.

The concern 'specifically relates to the Prophet Mohammed' due to 'particular sensitivities' around drawings of him, the student was told.

The student teacher called the response 'ludicrous and humiliating'.

An MMU spokesman told MailOnline: 'Manchester Metropolitan University has always supported and championed freedom of speech. We provide an academic environment in which debate and the sharing of views is encouraged.

'However, there is a difference between the expectations on students within an academic environment on a University campus and the expectations once our students move into a professional practice environment, such as a primary school.

'We look at all cases on their individual merits and in knowledge of the full context around a particular issue, and then take a course of action that is relevant and most suitable to deal with that specific issue.

'In this instance, it was thought best to have an initial discussion with the student about the potential impact in a primary school environment of the suggestion that he would be happy to share imagery which would be upsetting to people of a particular faith.

'We believe the discussion with the student was positive and constructive and we await further feedback from him before deciding whether any further steps are required.'

It comes after the row over Batley deepened this month as Imam Adil Shahzad, who travelled to Batley from Bradford to join the protests, insisted he wants the teacher dismissed.

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Teacher cleared in Prophet Muhammad image row

A teacher who was suspended after showing children a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad can return to the classroom.

Protests were held outside Batley Grammar School after the teacher showed an image during a religious studies lesson in March.

An independent investigation found the teacher did not intend to cause offence by showing the image.

The school said it would offer more guidance and training for staff.

The image was shown on more than one occasion to students during lessons earlier this year, the investigation found.

In an executive summary of the report, the trust said teaching staff "genuinely believed that using the image had an educational purpose and benefit".

But the trust said it recognised that using the image did cause "deep offence" to a number of students, parents and members of the school community, adding that it "deeply regrets the distress" caused.

'Suspensions lifted'

A spokeswoman for the Batley Multi Academy Trust said the school would put the recommendations from the report "into practice immediately".

She added: "The findings are clear, that the teaching staff involved did not use the resource with the intention of causing offence, and that the topics covered by the lesson could have been effectively addressed in other ways.

"In the light of those conclusions, the suspensions put in place while the investigation was under way will now be lifted."

The National Education Union said it was "pleased the correct decision has been reached" following the lifting of the suspension.

A Department for Education spokesperson said parents, families and the local community should "welcome and support the trust's comprehensive plan to strengthen its oversight of the curriculum".

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Binmen kick up a stink in aid of Batley teacher

by Camilla Turner, Daily Telegraph, Education Editor

When a teacher was suspended from his school after showing a picture of the Prophet Mohammed in class, he reportedly felt as though he had been “thrown under a bus”.

The National Education Union (NEU), was accused of failing to stand up for its own member after it did not immediately condemn the threats of violence and intimidation he faced in the wake of the row.

But now, the Batley Grammar School religious studies teacher has found unlikely support from a Bury branch of Unite, which largely represents binmen.

Brian Bamford, secretary of Tameside Trade Union Council, has submitted an emergency motion for the National Conference of Trade Union Councils in June to champion the cause of the suspended teacher.

The motion urges the NEU and all other unions to support the teacher and to publicly condemn those demanding his dismissal.

It notes that blasphemy laws were abolished more than a decade ago, and adds that “dogmatic restraints” should not be imposed on the religious education curriculum.

Mr Bamford is also secretary of Bury Unite commercial branch in the North West, which represents binmen across the borough, and the motion’s wording had to be approved by the branch committee before being passed up to the Tameside TUC which it is affiliated to.

"This is a motion which has come in from bin men, from ordinary working people," said Mr Bamford, a retired electrician who has been active in the trade union movement since the 1970s.

“As far as I can see, staying silent goes contrary to what we believe in at our branch, and especially in the trade congress.

“We are affiliated to the Orwell Society and freedom of expression is very important. I don’t feel guilty in any way for taking a stand on this issue.”

Mr Bamford claimed that an NEU official attempted to pressurise him into withdrawing the motion on the basis that it was “unhelpful” to draw further attention to the issue.

He said he was phoned by the official who asked him to "reconsider" the motion since it "risks inflaming what is an extremely sensitive and very complex situation" for members.

Mr Bamford was told that the NEU has an obligation to the “wider community in Batley" and that any further attention on the matter would "set back quite sensitive negotiations".

But he said he has no intention of abandoning the motion, adding that the school curriculum should not be “dictated by an indignant mob” who congregated outside Batley Grammar School just before the Easter break.

“We are troubled that a teacher can be suspended following protests about his teaching methods and use of materials,” Mr Bamford said.

“We are outraged that the teachers involved are being challenged for trying to broaden their students' horizons and encourage their critical thought.

“We don't believe that the determination of the use of teaching resources in a school should be influenced by people taking offence, and using intimidation and threats.”

Batley Grammar School sent pupils home early for the Easter holidays and issued an apology after a group of Muslims gathered at the gates to protest. The headmaster announced that the religious studies teacher had been suspended while the school looked into what happened.

The 29-year-old teacher and his family went into hiding after reportedly receiving death threats in the wake of the protests. The academy trust that runs Batley Grammar School announced at the end of March that it would carry out an “independent” investigation into the context in which the cartoon was shown.

A by-election has been triggered in Batley after Tracy Brabin stepped down as MP when she was elected as West Yorkshire's first metro mayor.

Ms Brabin, 60, replaced Jo Cox as Batley and Spen MP in a by-election in 2016 after Ms Cox was murdered by a far-right extremist. The seat will be seen as a key test for Labour after the party lost the Hartlepool by-election to the Conservatives earlier this month.

An NEU spokesperson said: "It is a sensitive issue and the NEU did ask for the motion to be withdrawn. With every viewpoint that is expressed our members face yet more public exposure."

They added that "speculation is unhelpful, not least for our members who the NEU are fully supporting throughout this investigation and will be doing so beyond the investigation".

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The French Connection by Les May

CONNOISSEURS of the absurd were no doubt amused by the NV articles of 5 and 6 April which told how the Kirklees branch of the National Education Union (NEU) gave £3,000 to the charity which through its Chief Executive had named the teacher accused of ‘blasphemy’, a crime that does not exist under English law, and so potentially put his life in danger from fanatics acting in the name of Islam.

Any condemnation by the NEU of either the actions of the man who did this and his demand that the teacher be removed from the school or of the attempt to reinstate the ‘crime’ of blasphemy by stealth, has been made pianissimo to say the least

.

But anyone with access to back copies of Educate the NEU print journal will remember how in the November/December 2020 copy on page 20 there was an article with the heading ‘Brutal Killing of French teacher’. It went as follows:

‘The NEU condemned the killing outside his school of French teacher Samuel Paty on 16 October. In a statement the union said: “Teachers must have the right to carry out their daily work in safety. No one should face threats for violence in the course of their working lives. Members of the NEU in the UK are deeply shocked by this brutal killing. Teaching about our human rights and inspiring students to play a positive role in society is part of the vital work teaches across the world carry out diligently every day.” The joint general secretaries sent letters of condolence and solidarity to the NEU’s sister union in France, the SNES-FSU, and to the French Education Minister.’

Humbug! Humbug! Humbug!

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Nothing new about cartoons which mock religion!

Posted on National Secular Society website: Thu, 08 Apr 2021 by Bob Forder

Religious leaders have long feared irreverent drawings that could challenge their authority. We should remember that amid the latest effort to prevent the use of Muhammad cartoons, says Bob Forder.

In recent weeks there's been another furious response to the use of Muhammad cartoons – this time in an educational setting, at Batley Grammar School in Yorkshire.

There is nothing new about cartoons being used as a device to poke fun at the religious. They have been a contentious source of blasphemy prosecutions and allegations ever since technical developments enabled their mass print production.

An early example is Leo Taxil's 'La Bible Amusante', which satirised what Taxil regarded as biblical inconsistencies and absurdities. G.W. Foote latched onto the cartoons in this book when he founded The Freethinker in 1881. He would undoubtedly have been encouraged by efforts to have Taxil's book banned in this country. From the outset Foote republished some of the cartoons as 'Comic Bible Sketches', although they were supplemented by others. More than anything else it was cartoons that made The Freethinker notorious and the reason the newspaper was such an immediate success in terms of its circulation.

At the same time, the leading US freethought newspaper The Truthseeker was publishing Watson Heston's cartoons (example below), which satirised biblical passages and celebrated US secularism and secular heroes like Thomas Paine. These were later collected together in books such as 'The Bible Comically Illustrated' and 'The Freethinkers' Pictorial Textbook'. These caused quite a rumpus, although little is known about Watson Heston.

Both D.M. Bennett (who founded The Truthseeker) and Foote were clear about the purpose of their cartoons. They reasoned that if you laugh at priests or ministers you can't take them seriously and they therefore lose authority. He had a point – and the same could be said for imams as for priests. I think this accounts in large part for the furious response in Batley.

Foote was eventually prosecuted for blasphemy (partly for the special 1882 Christmas number of The Freethinker, which was a cartoonists' feast). I include a copy of the cartoon from the front page (see main image). Other contents included a cartoon strip "A new life of Christ" and a particularly contentious cartoon "Moses getting a back view" with a quotation from Exodus "And it shall come to pass that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and I shall take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts". The cartoon features a rather startled Moses staring at a pair of well-filled check trousers with a tear in the rear. None of this has me rolling around with laughter, but I can understand the furious response provoked in 1882 – and Foote's courage in publishing them.

Foote got a year in Holloway Gaol and was widely regarded as a hero and martyr in National Secular Society circles. It was this that ensured he became president when Charles Bradlaugh – the NSS's founder – resigned in 1890.

The Charlie Hebdo cartoons were published for similar reasons and are part of the same tradition.

There is, however, a significant difference between now and then. Those who objected in the 19th century were largely part of an elite which held a privileged position in society as a whole, embodied and supported by the established church. In some ways those demanding retribution in Batley can be considered amongst the least privileged in society and, for them, this is an issue tightly linked to their ethnicity and sense of identity.

This makes the issue far more complex and helps explain the disappointing woolly thinking, platitudes and fudge about the need to engage and listen that has crept in amongst what might loosely be termed the liberal left. But those condoning the dangerous and over-hasty behaviour of the Batley Grammar School governors and management really need to think again.

Secularism is a fundamental liberal democratic principle. The strength and success of liberal democracy rests not only on principles such as fair elections but also on the assumption that the political system accommodates all religions and beliefs with equal respect and access, apart from those intent on its overthrow.

A failure to understand this, and the freedom of speech it entails, is the real threat to us all, particularly the less privileged. Freedom of speech must entail a right to offend, however regrettable this might seem.

Sadly, the array of religious and community leaders (some self-appointed) assembled outside Batley Grammar School purport to represent a less privileged community. But giving in will simply enhance and protect these leaders' own status and position within their community, at others' expense, and run the risk of that community becoming further isolated from society at large.

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Batley Grammar School capitulation

by Brendan O’Neill in The Spectator

The capitulation of Batley Grammar School has been a truly dispiriting sight. In response to protests by angry Muslims it has suspended a teacher for the supposed offence of showing a caricature of Muhammad to his pupils. This is an extraordinary act of moral cowardice. Batley Grammar has buckled to religious extremists, cravenly begging for forgiveness for something that ought to be perfectly acceptable in an institution of learning — encouraging young people to engage with and discuss controversial issues.

Everything about the Batley Grammar controversy stinks. It began when a teacher at the prestigious West Yorkshire school, as part of a religious education class, showed his pupils an image of Muhammad. Some Muslim groups that caught wind of this fact started stomping their feet. Mohammad Sajad Hussain of the Islamic charity Purpose Of Life said Muslims will feel ‘deeply hurt’ by the teacher’s behaviour and demanded that he be ‘permanently removed’. At 7.30am yesterday morning a group of mostly young men gathered at the school demanding that the teacher be sacked for the allegedly awful sin of displaying an image of the Prophet.

What happened next was staggering, even by the standards of today’s yellow-bellied culture of self-censorship. Batley Grammar’s headmaster, Gary Kibble, suspended the teacher — pending an investigation — and issued a ‘sincere’ and ‘unequivocal’ apology for the ‘totally inappropriate’ display of the Muhammad image. The school also put on hold the part of the religious-studies course in which the Muhammad incident occurred. And it is being reported this morning that the school has switched to remote learning, telling teachers and kids to stay home.

Forget the religious-studies teacher, who was only doing his job by encouraging his kids to confront all sorts of issues head-on. The true scandal here is the behaviour of the school. It has surrendered to religious intolerance. What next — Mr Kibble standing outside the school gates and flagellating himself for the blasphemous transgression of allowing an image of Muhammad to appear in one of his classrooms?

Bizarrely — but also predictably — the school has been cheered on by so-called progressives. Tracey Brabin, the Labour MP for Batley, says she is glad the school has recognised ‘the upset and offence’ it has caused and has now ‘apologised for the offence caused’. Well done for repenting — that’s effectively what Brabin is saying.

So is it Labour policy to support the suspension of teachers who hold open, frank discussions about Islam? Does Labour support the punishment of public servants who are accused of engaging in blasphemy? We should be told. Many Labour voters in Yorkshire and elsewhere will be keen to know if Labour now backs the public shaming of people who are accused of holding blasphemous thoughts against Islam.

That’s surely the central point in all of this: Britain is not an Islamic country. We do not live under Sharia law. It might be a punishable offence in Islamic nations to make or display an image of Muhammad, but it isn’t here. So what is going on? Why has a teacher been suspended and a school reportedly closed over something that is perfectly legal and perfectly acceptable in an educational context: encouraging discussion of religious icons and controversies?

Batley Grammar’s capitulation will inflame religious intolerance. It will embolden those who believe they have the right to bully and silence anyone who ‘disrespects’ Islam. Moral cowardice is the fuel of contemporary censorship. It is the negative energy on which the zealous crusaders for speech-control feast and get fat. Every time a cultural institution, a publisher or a school yields to the demands of the easily offended, the arrogance of modern censorship intensifies and faith in liberty dims further.

The idea of ‘Islamophobia’ plays a central role in contemporary censorship in Britain. Batley Grammar is being accused by some of inflaming Islamophobic sentiments. This is a slippery way of conflating discussion of Islam with racism; of treating critical discussion about a world religion as a species of racial hatred. But of course, as everyone ought to know, it is perfectly possible to criticise Islamic ideas and even to ‘diss’ Muhammad without harbouring a single hateful thought against the Muslim community.

This controversy is more than dispiriting — it is chilling. The teacher has reportedly been given police protection. That isn’t surprising given that, just a few months ago, a schoolteacher in France was beheaded by a radical Islamist for also initiating a classroom discussion about images of Muhammad. In such a climate anyone who is whipping up opposition to the Batley teacher, or engaging in spineless apologetics for those who are, should be utterly ashamed of themselves.

This teacher needs our support. The school has failed to give him its support, so perhaps the Prime Minister will? Boris Johnson, teachers in 21st-century Britain should be free to engage mature pupils in discussions about Islam and Muhammad — correct?

Brendan O’Neill is the editor of Spiked, the online magazine.

Blasphemy Laws By Stealth? by Les May

IN Great Britain the common law offence of blasphemy was abolished in May 2008. Which suggest that the recent BBC News headline ‘Batley Grammar School: Blasphemy debate leaves town at crossroads’ is not simply misleading but mischievous. For more than 150 years before that it had been restricted to protecting the "tenets and beliefs of the Church of England". It has not been missed as the last case in which anyone went to jail was in 1922 when John William Gott was sentenced to nine months hard labour for comparing Jesus with a circus clown. There is no record of whether God thought this was necessary.

A late amendment to the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 contained a clause which reads "Nothing in this Part shall be read or given effect in a way which prohibits or restricts discussion, criticism or expressions of antipathy, dislike, ridicule, insult or abuse of particular religions or the beliefs or practices of their adherents, or of any other belief system or the beliefs or practices of its adherents, or proselytising or urging adherents of a different religion or belief system to cease practising their religion or belief system."

The legislation has been attacked by a number of Muslims on the basis that it is too rigidly drawn, and that the scope of the offence of incitement to religious hatred is too narrow. The amendment noted above was inserted after campaigns by religious and secular groups, and comedians and satirists who were concerned that as originally drafted the act to hinder free speech.

In an Australian case brought by the Islamic Council of Victoria citing the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001, which applies to public behaviour not personal beliefs, the outcome was a statement agreed to by both parties which affirmed everyone's rights to "robustly debate religion including the right to criticise the religious belief of another, in a free, open and democratic society".

In a nutshell the actions of the teacher in the Batley Grammar School case were not unlawful in the UK. Had the intension been to vilify Muslims rather than to discuss blasphemy it would have fallen within the scope of the act.

The protests outside Batley Grammar School are an attempt to introduce a new blasphemy law by stealth.

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Western liberals’ weakness on blasphemy is letting down Muslim dissenters

Posted on the National Secular Society website by Kunwar Khuldune Shahid on Wed, 31 Mar 2021

The hand-wringing in the face of a vicious campaign against a teacher sends a demoralising message to those fighting for free speech on religion globally and in British Muslim communities, says Kunwar Khuldune Shahid.

The Batley Grammar School teacher who has been suspended, and gone into hiding, after showing a caricature of Islam's prophet Muhammad in class last week, now understandably worries that he might be killed. While the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) worries that the teacher may have shown an image that "plays into" an "Islamophobic trope", and many on the Western left similarly wring their hands, it remains unclear if fearing for one's life over offending Islam also constitutes a phobia. Others, graciously, have responded by quickly condemning 'extremists on both sides', as if the defence of liberal principles were equivalent to Islamist intimidation.

After the satirical French publication Charlie Hebdo was targeted in a jihadist attack, the gruesome murder of its journalists was rationalised through the 'Islamophobia' that it was guilty of, for treating Islam like any other religion. When French schoolteacher Samuel Paty was decapitated after showing Charlie Hebdo's caricatures in school, 'Islamophobia' once again became the rallying cry.

At first it was a publication's act of satirising Islam that translated into asking to be murdered. Now it's teachers showing those cartoons in lessons on blasphemy that is translating into 'asking for it'. Next it may well be critics of this blatant endorsement of Islamic blasphemy laws in the West who might 'ask for it'.

This gruesome eventuality has long been a reality in Muslim-majority countries, where individuals have been killed for mere criticism of the blasphemy laws. A dozen Muslim states sanction death for blasphemy and apostasy, and 20 mandate prison sentences. The day the Batley Grammar School teacher was suspended, and left at the mercy of radical Islamists, yet another man was killed for blasphemy in Pakistan. Since then, over the past week, radical Islamists have initiated violent protests in Bangladesh demanding, among other means of institutionalised persecution, capital punishment for blasphemy against Islam. On Tuesday, a man was burnt to death in Nigeria for 'insulting prophet Muhammad'.

It is impossible to separate the Islamist blasphemy laws in Muslim-majority countries and the demands to silence critique, caricaturing and satire of Islam by Muslim minorities. It shouldn't need saying but it is actually possible to uncompromisingly defend the rights of minorities, and shield them from majoritarian groups, without mollycoddling them over regressive and often downright bigoted beliefs.

Similarly, drawing cartoons or mocking religious beliefs as satire, or exposing believers to ideas completely antipodal to their beliefs in critical learning settings, do not constitute persecution. An offence, or its gravity, needs to be universally applicable and cannot be determined by the reaction of a group. Otherwise, we're a Hindutva attack on a steakhouse away from equating beef cuisine with persecution of Hindus.

Sketches or depictions of Muhammad are no more prohibited in Islam than cow slaughter is in Hinduism; or more poignantly, no more offensive than Hindu wives outliving husbands was two centuries ago. Europe consumed centuries over 'religion wars' between Christian sects which found one another's beliefs offensive. The rise of a radical, and puritanical, literalist brand of Islam, impacting Muslim majorities and minorities alike, is a corollary of a similar sectarian warfare within Islam today.

Some interpretations of Islam have long incorporated the tradition of drawing Muhammad, which means that the ubiquitous claims masquerading as fact that 'Islam prohibits depictions of Muhammad' or that 'Muslims are offended' by such illustrations paints all Muslims with a monolithic, and arguably regressive, brush.

However, even if there is a 'true' version of religion that might uphold certain beliefs, and even if every single one of its billions of adherents were to endorse them identically, that still cannot be used as justification to suppress rights, including the fundamental freedom of speech. And the only legal asterisk on this right should be explicit incitement to violence.

Again, to hold offended sensibilities as the limit of free speech is to not only fail miserably in understanding the very need for protection of such a freedom — since what is acceptable by all doesn't have to be guarded. It is also to constantly lower the threshold of what is 'offensive'. Even more critically, it can shield ideologues from countering viewpoints, which often is the raison d'etre of protests undertaken by those believing their ideas to be the ultimate truth.

Perhaps most pungently, endorsement of this censorship on the part of Western liberals makes it harder to normalise criticism of religion and undermines the fight against Islamic blasphemy laws that hang like a sword over millions in Muslim-majority countries. More than just an ideological regression on the part of the left, such upholding of Islamist ideas has even translated into European courts upholding blasphemy laws that many from Muslim majority countries are escaping from. And in acquiescing to the Islamist narrative in the garb of 'protecting Muslims', liberals in the West have not only abandoned dissidents in Muslim-majority countries, they have also helped facilitate regression of Muslim minorities in their own countries.

When the MCB's first ever female leader was asked questions that would be considered extremely basic for any other community, those otherwise unflinching in their quest for gender quality instinctively shouted 'Islamophobia'. Much of the western left embraces the MCB's calls for 'inclusivity' and 'care' when faced with cartoons. It showed less interest when, for example, an Ahmadi Muslim shopkeeper was killed in an Islamist attack in 2016 – and the Muslim Council of Britain's focus was declaring that 'Ahmadis are not Muslims'.

Shouldn't such marginalisation or violence committed for Islam, or the fear of one's life over cartoons on Islam, be the bigger concern here?

Shouldn't more energy be dedicated towards elimination of this widespread belief, codified in many Muslim-majority countries, but also preached in many mosques in the West, that blasphemy against Islam merits death?

One doesn't have to be a linguist to discern the contrast between statements issued by many Muslim community groups over killings in the name of Islam, and satire of Islam.

Indeed, Western liberals are complicit in facilitating these Islamic blasphemy narratives around the world. For, when states otherwise upholding free speech on religion start backtracking, those living in countries where blasphemy still mandates death will have little hope.

Kunwar Khuldune Shahid is a writer and social commentator based in Pakistan. The views expressed in our blogs are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the NSS.

Batley Grammar School suspended two more teachers amid row over cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad

By Benjamin Russell April 1, 2021 1:58 pm

Head teacher Gary Kibble announced that the unnamed teacher in his 20s had been suspended while the school investigated complaints by parents

The school at the centre of a row over pupils being shown a cartoon of the prophet Muhammed has suspended two other teachers, it has been reported.

One teacher suspended by Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire has had to go into hiding with his partner and four children after receiving death threats over a Charlie Hebdo cartoon of the prophet being used during a religious studies lesson.

Head teacher Gary Kibble announced that the unnamed teacher in his 20s had been suspended while the school investigated complaints by parents, but it has now emerged that two other teachers were also sent home but this was not revealed to the public over fears of wider criticism.

Speaking to MailOnline, a source told how looking at blasphemy had been part of the curriculum, but Mr Kibble had not authorised showing of the cartoon.

The source said: “Two other teachers are also being investigated but the school has been trying to keep it secret because they don’t want attention being drawn to the fact that this went beyond the actions of one person.

“They were not in the class at time but were aware that offensive material was going to be used.”

The also confirmed that the image that a pupil complained about to his parents was from the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and depicted the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb instead of a turban on his head.

They added: “Blasphemy features on the school curriculum and images have been used before by teachers. But not this one. This was the first time that this particular image was shown during a lesson.

“This picture was not part of the approved teaching materials and we do not know why the teacher chose it. This is why the head of the RE department is being investigated and another RE teacher because it appears, there were no proper checks in place.

“There is nothing to suggest that either of them used this particular image themselves in lessons, but they knew what was going on and it points to a breakdown in the system.”

It comes as a petition to reinstate the first teacher known to be suspended has reached almost 70,000 signatures.

The Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, said suggestions the teacher was in hiding were “very disturbing”.

Mr Jenrick said: “It must be right that a teacher can appropriately show images of the Prophet Mohammed.

“In a free society, we want religions to be taught to children and for children to be able to question and query them.”

He added: “I was disturbed to see scenes of people protesting out.side the school – that is not right

“We shouldn’t have teachers, members of staff of schools, feeling intimidated, and the reports that a teacher may even be in hiding is very disturbing.

“That is not a road we want to go down in this country, so I would strongly urge people who are concerned about this issue not to do that.”

The i has contacted the school for comment.

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ASIAN VOICE: Petition for re-instating Batley Grammar School Professor

Tuesday 30th March 2021 09:05 EDT

A Batley Grammar School teacher who triggered protests after showing a cartoon of Prophet Mohammed is believed to be afraid that he and his family will be murdered, his father has reported.

The religious studies professor remains in hiding after receiving death threats and has told his family “it’s all over” and he will never be able to return to his job or his home, The Telegraph reported. The professor was described as a “terrorist” in a letter from one community leader. The West Yorkshire school sent pupils home last week and issued an apology after the parents of Muslim children gathered at the gates to protest.

The teacher’s father in a statement to The Telegraph said, “My son keeps breaking down crying and says that it's all over for him. He is worried that he and his family are all going to be killed. He knows that he's not going to be able to return to work or live in Batley. It's just going to be too dangerous for him and his family.”

In the meantime, a petition from a student of Batley Grammar School noted, “The professor was trying to educate students about racism and blasphemy. He warned the students before showing the images and he had the intent to educate them. He does not deserve such large repercussions. He is not racist and did not support the Islamiphobic cartoons in any manner." This has got out of hand and due to this, students have missed out on lessons because of "peaceful" protestors.

It further notes, “The issue is already nationwide. The professor has already apologised and has been suspended. Against all odds, students wish to make a statement and reinstate him back as a teacher in Batley Grammar School due to his pure intentions. Join with us and make a statement before this is a repeat of what happened to the teacher in France when he showed the same pictures.”

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The Community of Scholars & Satanic Verses:

CLASH OF CULTURES UP NORTH AT BATLEY GRAMMAR?

THE Telegraph & Argus on the 27th February 2019 ran a story by its Chief Reporter, Tim Quantrill, claiming that 'Thirty years on from the Satanic Verse book burning in Bradford, a community leader has said he couldn't see a similar protest erupting today.'

In the 1980s, the book burning in Bradford led to protests, which began in the north of England, and soon spread across the UK and to the rest of the Islamic world, culminating in February 1989 with Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issuing a fatwa - a death sentence on the writer Salman Ruskie.

That was more than two years ago and at that time Ishtiaq Ahmed, the then business officer for the Bradford Council of Mosques, said that society had moved on arguing:

"We did what we needed to do to have our concerns registered in the public domain.

"The Muslim community has evolved in terms of political participation and is more integrated in British society which is hopefully more sensitive to Muslims and, particularly in writing about Muslims, more understanding.

"In terms of our struggle for equality and values recognised, it is an iconic milestone. In terms of a wider society, it is an important event in Bradford.

"Bradford is a place we feel positive about. I have five children and eight grandchildren, Bradford is our home and in our blood.

"There is a different mindset to the 1980s when we trying to decide whether we belong here."

Now this optimistic conclusion has been thrown into question as last Thursday and Friday, angry parents descended on Batley Grammar School (just down the road from Bradford) to make their voices heard and insisting that they will not stop gathering until a teacher is sacked for displaying a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed during one of his lectures on religous education.

The passionate allegation of the parents is that the teacher is guilty of blasphemy.

To which the comedian Ricky Gervais, who is an atheist, has jumped in to back the teacher in a tweet which saw him mock the protesters.

He wrote: "Blasphemy? F***ing Blasphemy? It's 2021 for f***'s sake. What next? People being punished for insulting unicorns?."

Mr Gervais, who is an atheist, was also backed by BBC broadcaster Nicky Campbell, who said his tweet was about the 'lunacy of blasphemy'.

He added blasphemy was a "victimless crime " and also hit out at a critic of the comedian.

However, Mr Gervais' tweet enraged some on social media, with one angry social media user labelling his words "an insult to the Islamic community worldwide".

The Salman Rushdie book opened up a clash between what is seen as the enlightenment thinking and divided the islamic world. Wikipedia says:

(It) "Muslims... Westerners along the fault line of culture,"[4][5] and to have pitted a core Western value of freedom of expression—that no one "should be killed, or face a serious threat of being killed, for what they say or write"[6]—against the view of many Muslims that no one should be free to "insult and malign Muslims" by disparaging the "honour of the Prophet".[7] English writer Hanif Kureishi called the fatwa "one of the most significant events in postwar literary history".

Many Muslims accused Rushdie of blasphemy or unbelief and in 1989 the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie. Numerous killings, attempted killings, and bombings resulted in response to the novel.

I was told back in the 1980s by a Islamic critic of Salman Rusdie, that the orginal suggestion to burn Satanic Verses came from an English solicitor in Bradford. And the rest we all know has followed on in its wake, because now we are getting the those on the outlook for blasphemy parading their protests outside Batley Grammar School.

Some hopes for the Community of Scholars if this carries on.

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YORKSHIRE LIVE REPORTS: THOUSANDS SIGN PETITION SUPPORTING TEACHER

Thousands of people have signed a petition calling for a Batley school teacher to be reinstated after he allegedly showed derogatory caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed.

The unnamed teacher, who is now under police protection, has been suspended from his role with Batley Grammar School issuing an apology to parents who have been protesting outside the school gates.

Ricky Gervais has waded in on the row by condemning the protesters and there are calls for the teacher to be reinstated after a pupil started a petition.

It has been signed by thousands of people and is gathering momentum despite [other] protesters calling for the teacher to be sacked.

Other reports:

The organisers behind the online petition claim to be students at the West Yorkshire school.

They said the teacher "was trying to educate students about racism and blasphemy" and was "not racist and did not support the Islamophobic cartoons in any manner".

It added: "This has got out of hand and due to this, students have missed out on lessons because of 'peaceful' protestors" .

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'FREE AT LAST' THE MEMOIR OF ASIA BIBI

FREE AT LAST - ASIA BIBI

Asia Bibi was called the 'world's most persecuted woman'. A Roman Catholic Pakistani, she was sentenced to death for blasphemy after a dispute over a cup of water with Muslim villagers who were picking fruit with her. She spent eight years on death row waiting to be hung before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, quashed the case against her. Although some Pakistanis wanted to lynch her, some spoke out in support of her. A provincial governor in the Punjab, Salman Taseer, was murdered after speaking in support of her and for opposing Pakistan’s blasphemy law. Shahbaz Batti, Pakistan’s Christian minority’s minister was also shot dead for his opposition to the blasphemy law. Her defence lawyer, Saiful Mulook, fled to the Netherlands in fear of his life.

As a persecuted Christian, the family of Asia Bibi sought asylum from the UK Government, but this was refused by the Conservative Government led by Theresa May, the daughter of an English vicar. May refused the family asylum on the grounds that it might increase community tension in the UK and put the lives of British embassy staff working in Pakistan at risk. When Asia Bibi's husband and daughter came to London, they were told by the government's trade envoy for Pakistan, Rehman Chishti MP, that nobody representing the government was prepared to meet them. He resigned his position in protest.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the Labour Party, also seemed reluctant to speak up for Asia Bibi. Brian Bamford, a Unite member and the Secretary of Tameside Trades Union Council, wrote on two occasions to Jeremy Corbyn asking where Labour stood in respect of an asylum claim from the family of Asia Bibi, but he never received a reply to his emails.

At a meeting organised by the North West TUC, Bamford asked during a discussion about racism and Tommy Robinson, whether cases like Asia Bibi involving religious persecution of Christian's by the mob, played into the hands of the far right in England and made racism more likely.  The Asian speaker replied that this was a matter for Pakistan and that this country had no right to interfere in the affairs of another country.

Angela Rayner, the local MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, incorrectly told a local Labour Party member that Labour were keen to help Asia Bibi but her family had made no application for asylum. Yet, Jeremy Corbyn didn't hesitate to take up the cudgel for the so-called ISIS bride, Shamima Begum. The Trades Council concluded that the Labour Party were possibly afraid of alienating the Muslim Labour vote.

When I circulated details of the desperate plight of Asia Bibi to various people, including the Momentum member, Sheila Sheppard, the Secretary of Stalybridge Constituency Labour Party, she politely told me to piss off, questioning why I had included her and pointed out that I was not a member of Stalybridge CLP and that there was nothing they could do to help Asia Bibi. I was told not to send her any more communications.

Many feminists were also conspicuously silent about the case of Asia Bibi possibly because they feared  offending cultural sensibilities or because she was a Roman Catholic Pakistani peasant woman and not a famous actress who'd been sexually violated.

Fortunately, the Canadian Government had more guts than the British Conservative government that let the Pakistani mobs dictate British asylum policy, or the Labour Party that gave preference to Labour votes before compassion and humanitarianism.

Asia Bibi and her family are now settled in Canada, despite the death threats of Muslim fanatics. From her new home in Canada, she now campaigns on behalf of other persecuted Christian's in Pakistan. I hope to get a copy of her autobiography 'Enfin Libre', when it becomes available in English - its been written in French - and possibly review it. It should be a compelling and interesting read.

ASIA BIBI LEAVES PAKISTAN

ASIA BIBI, a Pakistani Christian woman who spent years on death row after being convicted of blasphemy, has left the country, officials have confirmed.

Her conviction was overturned last year by the Supreme Court.  She was originally convicted in 2010 after being accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad in a row with her neighbours.

Asia Bibi has always maintained her innocence in a case that has polarised Pakistan.
Pakistani government officials did not reveal her destination, or say when she left.

But her lawyer Saif ul Malook told the BBC she had already arrived in Canada, where two of her daughters are understood to have been granted asylum.

Asia Noreen - commonly known as Asia Bibi - was kept at a secret location while arrangements were made for her to leave the country.

The Supreme Court's quashing of her sentence last October led to violent protests by religious hardliners who support strong blasphemy laws, while more liberal sections of society urged her release.

The trial stemed from an argument Asia Bibi had with a group of women in June 2009.  They were harvesting fruit when a row broke out about a bucket of water. The women said that because she had used a cup, they could no longer touch it, as her faith had made it unclean.

Prosecutors alleged that in the row which followed, the women said Asia Bibi should convert to Islam and that she made offensive comments about the Prophet Muhammad in response.
She was later beaten up at her home, during which her accusers say she confessed to blasphemy. She was arrested after a police investigation.

Acquitting her, the Supreme Court said that the case was based on unreliable evidence and her confession was delivered in front of a crowd "threatening to kill her".

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Asia Bibi offered Asylum by Canada!

   

Source: HuffPost 29-1-2019

Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who spent eight years on death row in Pakistan for blasphemy, is expected to soon arrive in  Canada after accepting an offer of asylum, says a source close to her family.

The news comes as Pakistan’s top court today rejected a challenge to the acquittal of the mother-of-five on blasphemy charges, after she was accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad.

The Supreme Court upheld its decision to overturn Asia Bibi’s conviction and death sentence sparking fears of civil unrest which plagued her release last year.

Wilson Chowdhry of the British Pakistani Association told HuffPost UK: “I can confirm that Asia Bibi will be flown out to Canada very, very soon and be joined in Canada by the rest of her family in due time.”

He said Canadian diplomats are making the necessary arrangements and that Bibi “is looking forward to her new life in a new country.”

It is hoped Bibi will join two of her daughters, who have already been secretly transported to Canada, Chowdhry said.

Canada’s Global Affairs department would not confirm Chowdhry’s update, but said that Bibi’s case is a “priority” for the Canadian government.  

“Canada is prepared to do everything we can to ensure the safety of Asia Bibi,” Global Affairs Canada spokeswoman Brittany Fletcher said on Tuesday. “We urge the Government of Pakistan to take all necessary steps to keep her safe. Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right, and must be fully respected.”

Speaking on background, officials told HuffPost Canada they are actively working to secure her release but won’t confirm details due to safety concerns for Bibi and diplomats.

Chowdhry, a close friend of the Bibi family who travelled the world trying to secure her asylum, said Bibi was moving to a secret and “relatively remote” part of Canada.

“Security concerns are still paramount. Even in Canada, Asia’s life is in potential danger.”

Bibi, a farm labourer, was released from prison two months ago after Pakistan’s highest court acquitted her in a landmark decision.

Last month, a delegation from the British Pakistani Christian Association visited Canada and garnered support from MPs there, who said they would welcome Asia and her family to the country.

The Trudeau government has the support of the opposition Conservatives, who have urged him to “use every mechanism at his disposal to offer the Bibi family asylum.”

Last November, Trudeau told reporters, while in Paris: “There is a delicate domestic context that we respect which is why I don’t want to say any more about that, but I will remind people Canada is a welcoming country.”

Bibi spent years in solitary confinement after an argument with a group of Muslim women in June 2009, who accused her of insulting the Prophet Muhammad. But last fall, Pakistan’s Supreme Court overturned her conviction, saying the case against her was based on flimsy evidence.

Her acquittal sparked violent protests across the country, led by Islamic religious hardliners from the extremist group Tehreek-e-Labbaik, whose leaders were later arrested and detained on terrorism and sedition charges.

Days after her release, Bibi’s husband Ashiq Masih made an impassioned video plea to British Prime Minister Theresa May asking for asylum in the UK.

But her appeal for sanctuary was denied by the UK’s home office because of fears British embassies and diplomatic staff would be targeted by Islamic extremists.

Several countries have reportedly offered Bibi asylum, including: France, Spain, Holland, Germany, Italy and Australia.

Chowdhry told HuffPost that  Bibi and her family spent Christmas together in a “safe and secret location” with a core of “international diplomats” guarding her.

With reporting from HuffPost Canada’s Samantha Beattie and Althia Raj. 

CLARIFICATION: A previous version of this story reported that Asia Bibi had accepted an offer of asylum from the Canadian government. Officials say they are still “working” on the “priority” case. The story has been updated to reflect that.

WHAT If the court refuses to allow the appeal?

 

 If the court refuses to allow the appeal, it will remove the last legal hurdle facing Asia Bibi.

PAKISTAN's Supreme Court will decide on January 29 whether to allow an appeal against its acquittal of a Christian woman at the centre of a blasphemy row, a lawyer involved in the case said on Thursday.

If the court refuses to allow the appeal, it will remove the last legal hurdle facing Asia Bibi, who is a prime target in Pakistan and remains in protective custody.

Bibi was on death row for eight years for blasphemy, a hugely sensitive charge.

The Supreme Court's decision in October last year to overturn her conviction ignited days of violent demonstrations, with enraged militants calling for her beheading, mutiny within the powerful military and the assassination of the country's top judges.

The government has since launched a crackdown on the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) party - the militant group driving the violent protests - charging its leaders with sedition and terrorism.

But authorities also struck a deal with the protesters to end the violence, forming an agreement which included allowing a final review of the Supreme Court's judgement.

On January 29, "the court will determine if our appeal against her acquittal is admitted", Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry, the lawyer who filed the petition seeking an appeal, told AFP.

"Usually the court decides on the same day if the appeal is admitted or not," he added.

Under Pakistan's legal system any private citizen can petition the courts on any matter of public interest or human rights, as in the Bibi case.

However legal experts said it would be highly unusual for the Supreme Court to overturn its own decision, especially one that as carefully drafted as the Bibi ruling.

"It is very rare," lawyer Saad Rasool told AFP.

The three-member bench that will hear the petition will be headed by new Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, considered the country's top expert in criminal law and who helped draft the decision to acquit Bibi.

Approximately 40 people are believed to be on death row or serving a life sentence for blasphemy, according to a 2018 report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Speculation has been rife since Bibi's acquittal that an asylum deal with a European or North American country may be in the works.

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Don’t Lecture Me on Islamophobia

by Les May

Asia Bibi - Sentenced to Death for Drinking Water

NEXT Tuesday the Home Affairs Select Committee is to take evidence on the prevalence and growth of far-right extremism in the UK. This seems like a monumental piece of humbug considering that the Foreign Office seems to be willing to placate a murderous far-right group in Pakistan by urging that the British Government refuses asylum to Asia Bibi who they wish to hang.

The Foreign Office permanent secretary Sir Simon McDonald told the Foreign Affairs Select Committee that he did not wish to give evidence in public and was allowed to give it in private after the committee went into closed session. So decisions are being made in our name that we know nothing about. The chairman of the committee, Tom Tugendhat, has himself backed the Bibi family.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/11/13/asia-bibi-may-not-granted-asylum-uk-amid-fears-violence-foreign/

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/13/asia-bibi-foreign-office-accused-of-allowing-pakistan-mob-to-dictate-asia-bibi-asylum-case

I strongly believe that Asia Bibi ought to have been offered asylum in this country and as a lifetime Labour voter I am dismayed that I find myself at odds with the Labour party which seems to have been silent on this matter. If the reason that Labour has held back is out of fear that it will alienate Muslim voters in this country then it shames our pretence of being a liberal democracy. Frankly I would rather not have a Labour government if it is unwilling to act with common human decency out of a desire to gain political advantage. If Labour has a position on this matter I have yet to hear it.

Individual MPs have made their position clear. Thirty four of them have signed an early day motion which reads:

‘That this House condemns the threats made to Asia Bibi and her family's lives following her acquittal by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in a blasphemy trial; recognises that Britain's commitment to freedom of religious expression, for those of all faiths and none, is one of our most important values; notes that it is essential that there is strong international pressure to ensure the Pakistani Government allows Asia Bibi to leave for a place of safety; and calls on the Government to immediately extend an offer of unconditional asylum to her and her family.’

The silence of so many Muslims in Britain is counterproductive. Far from being reassuring it promotes Islamophobia because it suggests that we do have something to fear from Islam, unless we are careful in what we say. Certainly I do not intend to be lectured by anyone on the evils of Islamophobia if they have not shown their willingness to support the right to life of Asia Bibi, a woman who is described by The Spectator as ‘among the most wronged people on the planet’.

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/11/asia-bibi-and-the-case-that-makes-a-mockery-of-britains-asylum-laws/

This silence is not universal. A number of prominent Muslims have put there names to a letter sent to the Home Secretary.

http://www.britishfuture.org/articles/muslim-voices-uk-asylum-call-asia-bibi/

The letter reads:

‘Asia Bibi’s life is in danger in Pakistan, where violent mobs are calling for her execution following her acquittal by the Supreme Court in a blasphemy trial.
Britain’s commitment to freedom of religious expression is one of our most important values. This is especially valued by minority faiths in our society. Its foundation is respect for the beliefs of others, of all faiths and none. This country has a long tradition of offering protection, stretching back to the Huguenots. We should seek to act in this case too.
It is essential that there is strong international pressure to ensure the Pakistani government allows Ms Bibi to leave for a place of safety if she wishes to do so. We call on you to make a clear and proactive statement, that Britain would welcome a request for sanctuary here. Many other governments may wish to make a similar offer: we wish to see our government step up and show leadership.
We are confident that action to ensure Asia Bibi and her family are safe would be very widely welcomed by most people in Britain, across every faith in our society. If there are intolerant fringe voices who would object, they must be robustly challenged, not indulged.
The real threat to good community relationships in Britain would arise from a failure to stand for and act upon the values we should all share.’

The last two sentences of this letter are a blueprint for how to tackle the far right in this country in whatever guise it presents itself.
Another Muslim voice raised in defence of Asia Bibi is Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. I rarely find myself in agreement with what she writes but in this case I admire her willingness to tell it as it is:
‘These are Christians for God’s sake.  Two and a half million of them live in Pakistan – poor, despised, disenfranchised, vulnerable and violently attacked.  Churches have been bombed, and hundreds have been killed. Vocal egalatarians seemingly never get agitated when non-Muslims are victimised by the followers of Allah.  Tribal loyalties drive their activism.  The rest can go hang.’
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/columnists/asia-bibi-asylum-case-blasphemy-pakistan-sajid-javid/