Human rights watchdog backs teacher in Hebdo cartoon row.
Support is growing for staff member forced into hiding after protest fury
THE equalities watchdog last night joined thousands backing a teacher forced to flee for their life after showing pupils a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.
Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, branded the teacher’s treatment ‘unacceptable’ – and warned the police would act.
Meanwhile, BBC presenter Nicky Campbell risked breaching strict impartiality guidelines by dubbing the row ‘the lunacy of blasphemy’.
And comedian Ricky Gervais tweeted to his 14.5million followers: ‘What next? People being punished for insulting unicorns?’
More than 25,000 people have now signed a petition supporting the ‘devoted’ teacher who has been ‘absolutely destroyed’ by the ‘witchhunt’. Angry parents picketing Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire and local Muslim leaders are demanding the staff member’s sacking for a ‘blasphemous’ lesson about religious ethics, in which pupils were shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published by French magazine Charlie Hebdo.
The teacher, who cited ‘ British values’ to their Year 9 pupils to prompt a debate about the contentious images, has now had to flee home with their partner and children on ‘police advice’.
Gervais, an atheist famed for his own outrageous and often offensive jokes, has previously made his views known by tweeting: ‘Everyone has the right to believe anything they want. And everyone else has the right to find it f***ing ridiculous.’ Yesterday he received backing from Radio 5 Live presenter Campbell. And on BBC Radio 2, host Jeremy Vine read out a string of messages from people who know the teacher, including a listener called Laura who said the individual’s ‘ life has been absolutely destroyed by this incident’ after being ‘completely scapegoated by the school’.
She added that the staff member was ‘dedicated’ to their family and that their life had been ‘completely turned upside down over this’.
Another person claiming to be a relative told Mr Vine the teacher had ‘gone into hiding due to the threats that have been made toward the family’.
In 2015 two Muslim brothers killed 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo office over the cartoons.
And last October, teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded near his school in France after showing the same pictures to pupils. The Batley
Grammar teacher – who the Daily Mail is not identifying – has been suspended pending an inquiry by the school following complaints from Muslim parents.
Headteacher Gary Kibble has been accused of pre-empting the probe by offering an ‘unequivocal apology’ for the teacher showing pupils a ‘ totally inappropriate resource’. But it was claimed last night that the same images have been shown in recent years in class by at least one other teacher at the school.
A parent said his teenage daughter was in a religious studies lesson two years ago and pupils were given the opportunity to leave the class before caricatures of the prophet were shown. No one complained at the time, the parent said.
The school has refused to comment on the specific content of the controversial lesson or whether the images have been shown before. Baroness Falkner said: ‘Children’s education should not be disrupted by protests in what has already been a difficult year. The school is taking action and ought to be trusted to do so.
‘A teacher’s identity being shared, making them fear for their safety, is simply unacceptable and could result in enforcement action from the police.’
She added: ‘Schools are places where children learn about ideas, values, difference and respect.
This sometimes involves exposing them to contentious issues and different views and ideas. For schools to meet their legal duty to foster good relations between people from different groups, this should be done in a balanced, respectful and sensitive way.’
Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, urged the school to stick up for British values, saying: ‘Those who do not hold the Islamic faith, such as the teacher in this case, are under no obligation to abide by the rules of that faith.’
Batley Grammar School was closed yesterday amid fears for pupils, after several dozen protesters picketed the gates for a second day. A local imam, Mohammed Pandor, told a crowd outside the school: ‘ Ideally this teacher’s
‘Completely scapegoated’
teaching days are over.’ The teacher was accused of hatred, sadism and terrorism. The individual and their family were bundled into a black car ‘in a rush’, according to a neighbour.
Pupils have described the staff member as a ‘diligent teacher’ who is ‘respectful of all religions’. Others said the school must stand by the individual, insisting they were being ‘bullied out’ by ‘radicals’. One Muslim parent who signed the petition, named Mohammed J, wrote: ‘I would like to convey my support for the school and also the teacher concerned.
‘I am confident that the teacher concerned did not mean any offence and I hope following an investigation [they] return to [their] role at the school.’
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has condemned the protests and said schools must be free to show ‘challenging or controversial’ materials in class.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said it was ‘ very disturbing’ that the teacher has been forced into hiding.
Tory MP Robert Halfon, chairman of the education committee, said the headteacher has a ‘duty to say what went on in that lesson and why that teacher was suspended’.
He added: ‘To have an organised protest, which has effectively shut down the school, which means all the children are not learning is appalling and unacceptable.’
The Muslim Council of Britain said: ‘Reports suggest the image shown to students was one that depicted the Prophet Muhammad wearing a turban with a bomb in it – an extremely offensive image.
‘According to parents at the school, the cartoons created a hostile atmosphere and led to Islamophobic discourse and language.’