LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th March, 2021) UK minister for Housing, Communities and Local Governments, Robert Jenrick, said on Friday that he was "disturbed" by scenes of people protesting outside a school in England following claims that a teacher had shown pupils an image of prophet Mohammad, and said schools' staff should not be feeling "intimidated."
"That is not right, we shouldn't have teachers, members of the staff of schools feeling intimidated, and the reports that a teacher may be in hiding is very disturbing. That is not a road that we want to go down in this country, so I'd strongly urge people who are concerned about this issue not to do that," Jenrick told Sky news broadcaster.
People from the Muslim community gathered on Thursday outside Batley Grammar School in Batley, West Yorkshire, to demonstrate against an action regarded as deeply offensive to the Islamic faith, which prohibits any depiction of their prophet.
According to reports, the school publicly apologized and announced that a member of staff has been suspended pending investigation, but Jenrick warned, however, that there should be an "appropriate balance."
"We have to ensure that there is free speech, that teachers can teach uninhibited, but that has to be done in a respectful and tolerant way and that's a balance that has to be struck by teaching professionals and by the schools," the minister stressed.
On Thursday evening, the Department of education said in a statement that the protest in Batley was "unacceptable" and must be brought to an end.
"We encourage dialogue between parents and schools when issues emerge. However, the nature of protest we have seen, including issuing threats and in violation of coronavirus restrictions are completely unacceptable and must be brought to an end," the statement said.
The online edition of the Mirror newspaper reported on Friday that people have been gathering outside Batley Grammar School for the second day in a row and that the school has been closed for the day.
In January 2015, Islamic terrorists attacked the headquarters of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris for publishing cartoons that depicted Mohammad and killed 12 people, including staff cartoonists and two policemen.
Five years later, a French teacher was murdered following reports that he had shown an image of the Prophet Mohammad to pupils at a school near Paris.
