The Islamic organisation ‘Purpose of Life’ has been slammed for sharing the name of the UK teacher, caught in the middle of the West Yorkshire’s Batley Grammar School blasphemy row, in the public domain. The Islamic charity has been rebuked for ‘inflaming tension’ and risking the life of the teacher.
The controversy had erupted in the month of March when the UK teacher had shown satirical cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad to his students during a lesson in class. Imam Mohammed Amin Pandor, the director of the ‘Peace Institute’, and a few others had gathered outside the school to condemn the use of the images as “totally unacceptable” and demanded that the teacher involved be suspended.
Now, according to the British daily The Telegraph, the UK Charity Commission said on Friday, October 1, that it has issued Purpose of Life an official warning under section 75A of the 2011 Charities Act.
The formal notice says the commission “considers that a breach of trust and/or duty and/or misconduct and/or mismanagement has been committed in connection with the charity”.
The regulators slammed the Islamic organisation saying that while naming the teacher in its open letter, Purpose of Life did not consider “foreseeable risk to the person’s safety”. It added that the letter was worded in such a way as to heighten existing tensions in the local community.
In a letter to the Purpose of Life, the Charity Commission recommended that the organisation take a number of steps, including “implementing effective written oversight and/or control mechanisms for the charity’s social media channels”.
The Charity Commission warned to take “further regulator action” if the faults pointed out by the regulators are not addressed.
Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union had made the complaint against the Islamic charity.
Islamists protested compelling Batley Grammar school authorities to suspend the UK teacher
It may be noted that the teacher in question was suspended from Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire, on 22nd March 2021, for showing students a satirical cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad during a class.
The incident had outraged Islamists who had gathered outside the school demanding the teacher be sacked. Succumbing to the pressure, the principal of the school, Gary Kibble, had suspended the teacher and had apologised “unequivocally”, adding that the member of staff had “given their most sincere apologies”.
More than 60,000 people had signed a petition demanding his reinstatement
According to the reports, thousands of students and parents had expressed solidarity with the UK teacher. An online petition was launched to save the teacher’s job even as furious Muslim parents have called for his sacked and continue to protest outside the school despite being condemned by the government. More than 60,000 people had reportedly signed the petition asking school authorities to reinstate the teacher.
The petition launched by a student at Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire said the teacher had “pure intentions”, adding, “He is not racist and did not support the Islamophobic [sic] cartoons in any manner.”
The Batley Grammar school teacher scared for himself and his family had gone into hiding
Following his suspension, the teacher had gone into hiding because of the protests and the death threats he started receiving.
In the month of May, an external investigation launched by the school’s governing trustees concluded that the teacher had not intended to cause offence, following which the suspension was lifted, but the West Yorkshire teacher had refused to return to the school over fears for his life.
Referring to the murder of French teacher Samuel Paty who was killed for showing the Prophet Muhammad caricature in a class, the Batley teacher’s father had feared that his son would be killed eventually.
Father of teacher had feared son would be killed like French teacher Samuel Paty
“Look what happened to the teacher in France who was killed for doing the same thing. Eventually, they will get my son and he knows this. His whole world has been turned upside down. He’s devastated and crushed”, said his father. “When he starts speaking, he just breaks down and cries. He’s become an emotional wreck. He feels that everything is broken and to be honest, it’s hard to console him at the moment because that is the truth”, the father had said.
The killing of French teacher Samuel Paty
Here, it may be recalled how in October last year, Samuel Paty, a high-school teacher was beheaded by an Islamic terrorist in the French capital Paris for allegedly shown caricatures of the Prophet of Islam to his students. According to reports, a Muslim youth had stabbed the 47-year-old teacher in his throat while shouting “Allahu Akbar”. The attacks had occurred at the suburb of Conflans-Saint-Honorine, northwest of Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron had called the incident an “Islamist terror attack”. He had strongly condemned the barbarism and had also vowed that France would stick to its secular traditions and laws guaranteeing freedom of speech which allow publications such as the virulently anti-religion Charlie Hebdo to produce cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed.
However, the historic speech by Macron and his pronouncements to tackle Islamic terror has infuriated many Islamic countries, with many Islamic countries, especially Turkey and Pakistan took the lead to denounce the French President.
India had, however, stood strongly in support of the French President and condemned the brutal terrorist attack that took the life of the French teacher.
