Told to drop episode on Guru, UK peer quits BBC programme
INDARJIT SINGH, MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS, ACCUSES BBC OF ‘PREJUDICE AND INTOLERANCE’
race controversy over the BBC’S treatment of Indian-origin presenter Nana Munchetty last week.
Singh told the newspaper: “It was like saying to a Christian that he or she should not talk about Easter for fear of giving offence to the Jews”.
After he threatened to leave the slot empty rather than have his religion’s teachings “insulted in this way”, the corporation reportedly let him go ahead. Singh was not told of any listeners being offended.
He then made a complaint about the way in which he had been treated, saying that it was one of several occasions on which he had been prevented by the BBC from addressing subjects important to the Sikh faith, but a review rejected his complaint.
Singh said: “The need for sensitivity in talking about religious, political or social issues has now been taken to absurd proportions with telephone insistence on trivial textual changes right up to going into the studio, making it difficult to say anything worthwhile”.
“The aim of Thought for the Day has changed from giving an ethical input to social and political issues to the recital of religious platitudes and the avoidance of controversy, with success measured by the absence of complaints. I believe that Guru Nanak and Jesus Christ, who boldly raised social concerns while stressing tolerance and respect, would not be allowed near Thought for the Day today.”
He accused the BBC of “a misplaced sense of political correctness that pushes contributors to bland and unworldly expressions of piety that no one can complain about”.