A British teacher is still in hiding one year after he was forced out of his job following protests from Muslims who were angry that he shared a picture of Muhammad in class.
In March last year, the teacher, who had shown the image of Muhammad in his Religious Studies class, was suspended by his school after a “mob” of angry Muslims repeatedly protested for days outside Batley Grammar School.
The teacher had his name and face published on social media by the Islamic charity “Purpose of Life” and “labelled him a terrorist,” as noted by local activist and family friend Paul Halloran, forcing him to go into hiding with his young family, where he still remains one year later.
Halloran said it had been “immensely hard” for the teacher.
“I obviously can’t go into too much detail, but as with anybody who goes to work one day and then is run out of their job and has to move away and build a new life, I am sure that people can imagine how very hard it is for him.”
“All major political parties, it was a hot potato, they didn’t want to talk about it. The message locally is that it’s still very raw… It matters in the wider context,” Halloran added.
Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP for Batley and Spen, had claimed that she has not talked about the incident because she had “specifically been asked not to by the family involved,” something that Halloran denied was true.
“In his own words, he has never even spoken with Kim and also, he has not told anyone in his family that he doesn’t want his case being highlighted on social media,” Halloran said.
“I therefore find it thoroughly disingenuous that Kim and her office can make such claims.”
More disturbingly, a donation from the Jo Cox Foundation, the charity set up in remembrance of the murdered MP for the constituency, who happened to be Leadbeater’s sister, was given to the Purpose of Life only a month after the teacher was forced into hiding.
One year ago today, a Batley Grammar School teacher was suspended after mob rule
* Why did Batley MP @kimleadbeater lie she has spoken to his family?
* Why did the @JoCoxFoundation donate £1k to the charity who named the teacher, forcing him into hiding? With @PaulHalloran68 pic.twitter.com/BPpg9ZEXFC
— The Reclaim Party (@thereclaimparty) March 25, 2022
“People have been conditioned to not say things, and we need to stand up and we need to fight,” Halloran said.
“I want my children and my grandchildren to grow up in a world where they can challenge people without fear of being cast aside… This woke society that we’ve created will be the undoing of us all.”
