Imam in protest has spread anti-vax propaganda – and condemns Strictly
A MUSLIM preacher who told protesters outside Batley Grammar School of his ‘disgust’ over the Prophet Mohammed cartoon controversy has spread anti-vaccine propaganda and shared a vile smear against the UK’s Chief Rabbi, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Mohammed Amin Pandor, who announced the suspension of a teacher to protesters outside the Yorkshire school last week, has opposed gay marriages and even condemned Strictly Come Dancing.
The 62-year-old, who belongs to the ultra-conservative Deobandi branch of Islam, has courted controversy for a number of years and recently shared a fatwa, or ruling, on Facebook and Twitter stating that ‘the uncertainty about the ingredients’ in Covid-19 vaccines meant they should not be promoted.
The fatwa declared that God had given a ‘definite remedy for safety from every form of harm and disease’ and urged followers to recite a prayer three times.
In 2017, Mr Pandor went on social media to post a false story from a website linked to an Iranian disinformation campaign that accused Ephraim Mirvis, the UK’s Chief Rabbi, of saying it would be permissible to take sex slaves.
He has also signed letters opposing gay marriage and comments by Mak Chishty, a Muslim former Metropolitan Police commander, who wrote a newspaper article headlined ‘We must reclaim Islam from extremists’.
The imam, from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, has also used a religious slur when talking about Ahmadi Muslims, a persecuted Islamic sect in Pakistan. And speaking on BBC radio in 2016, he even told an interviewer that his religious beliefs meant Strictly Come Dancing was ‘not acceptable’.
Mr Pandor, a mechanical engineer by training and former Department of Health worker, last week told protesters outside the school: ‘What happened here, we are disgusted.
What has happened is totally unacceptable and we have made sure they are aware. The teacher has been suspended. They can’t just sack him, they need to do their due process. We’ve asked for an investigation, an investigation to be independent. We are going to work with the school to make sure things like this don’t happen.’
Responding to questions from this newspaper, Mr Pandor wrote on Twitter yesterday of his ‘sincere apologies to the Rabbie [sic]’ for sharing the false slaves story.
He also tweeted that his view on Covid-19 vaccines was backed by a statement declaring ‘eligible at-risk individuals in Muslim communities’ should take the Pfizer vaccine.