| Newspapers' hate campaign to stop Muslim getting a top job at the Beeb |
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| Wednesday, 13 May 2009 | |
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This from the Telegraph which takes a similar line: "Leading church figures suspect that the BBC is giving preferential treatment to minority faiths, with a Muslim now in charge of its programming on television and a Sikh producing Songs of Praise, its flagship Christian show...." More information can be found at: www.islamophobia-watch.com. Article 12 of the Press Complaints Commission is:
It's about time you stood up for yourselves, humanity and this country. Don't allow this type of hate to go unchecked. Today it's Aaqil Ahmed, tomorrow it will be you, and the day after, your sons and daughters. Contact the Press complaints Commission via this link, http://www.pcc.org.uk/cop/practice.html or alternatively send them an email : complaints@pcc.org.uk and 'cc' or 'bcc' us in so we can publish your concerns so that others can be motivated. Also send a congratulatory email to the BBC, info@bbc.co.uk, for standing up to the lowest forms of hate and campaign of discrimination by the Telegraph and the Mail. Its time you stood up. [Corrected spelling mistake. Hat tip: Farees]    Readers have left 15 comments.
m:
The BBC should ban all religious programmes..Keep Britain secular and get rid of happy clappy religious freaks who discriminate against those who with a different belief system..
(1)
2009-05-14 12:01:13
Templar:
i don't follow any cult,but the point is that this country is 70% christian,so how come a person from a 3% minority cult is put in charge of religious programmes on the bbc?it's selling out the british public for PC reasons,again!
(2)
2009-05-14 15:20:02
sense:
@ templar
This job like any other should be appointed on the basis of merit,therefore any person religious or non religious may be put in charge of religious programming.Islam is NOT a minority cult in this country or any other.
(3)
2009-05-14 17:26:26
That works:
The BBC should ban all religious programmes..Keep Britain secular and get rid of happy clappy religious freaks who discriminate against those who with a different belief system.. — mAnd instead have freaks with a secular belief who discriminate against those with a different belief system.
(4)
2009-05-14 18:58:21
Q:
Let us stop for one moment and really think about what we are saying. Imagine if you will that tomorrow a Muslim state appointed a non-Muslim to head up the state broadcasters division for religious programming aimed at meeting the needs of the Muslim majority. We all know that there wouldn't be simply a couple of articles demanding that the broadcaster revise its decision. Instead there would be mobs on the street baying for blood.
Now let's calmly recognise that the majority British are struggling with the progression towards a multi-cultural society, and they are following a rocky road. But at least they are trying, and that's why Muslims in UK are not lining up at the airports to leave, and why still more want to come here.
(5)
2009-05-14 21:40:53
unseen:
The Code says "Details of an individual's race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental illness or disability must be avoided unless genuinely relevant to the story."
In what sense is Aqeel Ahmed's religion "not relevant to the story", given that the story is actually about his religion?
(6)
2009-05-14 22:52:11
Syed:
In what sense is Aqeel Ahmed's religion "not relevant to the story", given that the story is actually about his religion? — unseenAqeel Ahmed was hired because he was the most qualified and experienced person for the job. His religion had nothing to do with it and therefore not relevant.
(7)
2009-05-14 23:08:58
Abdulhafid:
In what sense is Aqeel Ahmed's religion "not relevant to the story", given that the story is actually about his religion? — SyedAqeel Ahmed was hired because he was the most qualified and experienced person for the job. His religion had nothing to do with it and therefore not relevant. I somewhat agree with Q here, it is the Head of Religious Programming, not the head of news or cooking programs. Some sensitivity has to go into the issue. At the end of it all it may have been better to appoint an atheist.
(8)
2009-05-15 08:12:09
Q:
My dear friends, let's all take some of the steam out of this argument and be calm. 100 years ago the British were a church going Christian society with few minority groups. They had struggled with finding accomodation between Anglicans, Non-Conformists and Catholics (and let's not forget they had fought some vicious wars over religion). They found in their broadcasts of Christian services a sense of security and well-being, at a time when as a state they felt supremely confident. Now they have lost their empire, their economic power and the neighbourhoods have changed irrevocably. Of course they feel threatened. They hear idiots demanding separatism and the imposition of Sharia, and to them this an invasion as massive as the impact of Zionism in the Levant.
We do not help this situation by accusing them of Islamophobia and worse, but not offering the hand of friendship and partnership. Too often we turn our backs in indifference and arrogance towards our majority Christian neighbours - we accuse them of intolerance while exhibiting the same ourselves. If we really want to understand this, simply role reverse the situation and place it in a Muslim country and then imagine the outcome. The method is one of the best ways of testing the objectivity of our judgements and responses, and can be used across the board to predict outcomes. That we rarely do it shows that we lack the maturity and intellectual security to be objective, and it is the cause of many of our problems around the world. If we were objective, we could beat the Zionists, establish a state of Palestine and improve the quality of life for Muslims everywhere. Instead we repeatedly bury ourselves into self-deceptive hyperbole.
(9)
2009-05-15 09:51:45
Zameer:
When Aaqil Ahmed was Channel 4's commissioning editor for religion he commissioned 'Christianity: A History' and the feature length programme on the Koran. They were generally well-received although the programmes did get criticism from some Christians and Shia Muslims respectively. Positive discrimination may have played a part in the BBC's decision to appoint him but I think it was because of his proven ability to do the job.
(10)
2009-05-15 11:27:17
Farees:
His name is 'Aaqil Ahmed' not 'Akeel Ahmed'
(11)
2009-05-15 12:42:08
Templar:
sense(contradiction in terms i think),it's religious programing in a christian country being led by a muslim.what about i lead calls to pray for you on a friday!don't be idiotic.and you are a minority cult(unless we see sense you won't be)in this country and many others.try getting some SENSE!
(12)
2009-05-15 14:18:39
Naseby:
"[Corrected spelling mistake. Hat tip: Farees]"
If you send me your articles before you post them I'll correct your punctuation. Someone needs to do it.
(13)
2009-05-15 14:35:37
Commando:
some good points being displayed on this article, However lets not forget that it is th Daily Mails job to discriminate against Muslims and Islam in general. You must be a fool whos hid his head under a rock if you ever think you re going to get anything apart from 'yellow journalism' from these scumbag papers.
(14)
2009-05-15 19:56:09
Sebster:
sense(contradiction in terms i think),it's religious programing in a christian country being led by a muslim.what about i lead calls to pray for you on a friday!don't be idiotic.and you are a minority cult(unless we see sense you won't be)in this country and many others.try getting some SENSE! — TemplarIt pleases me enormously that you are so upset by this story - this country's Christian heart (and any sense of spirituality) has long been put to the sword by secularists and atheists well before any non-christians arrived. I really don't mind you giving the call to prayer on a Friday, or any other day for that matter - just so long as you accept Islam beforehand.
(15)
2009-05-16 18:45:46
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At last some sanity from the BBC. Aaqil Ahmed has been appointed the Head of Religious Programming at the BBC, in spite of a hate campaign by the Daily Mail and the Telegraph, stirring up fear of Aaqil Ahmed being Muslim. This shocking tactic breaks the Press Complaints Charter which all newspapers have signed up to, in particular Article 12.
