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A class about free speech was cynically exploited by activists to incite fury in a local communityThree years ago, on 25&nbsp;March 2021, a teacher from Batley Grammar School (BGS) in West Yorkshire was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/devastated-batley-teacher-fearing-life-20282177">forced into hiding</a> after a religious studies class he gave led to&nbsp;protests from Muslim parents <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/mar/25/batley-head-apologises-for-teacher-using-charlie-hebdo-cartoons">and&nbsp;to death threats</a>. Today, that incident has been largely forgotten. Except by the teacher. He can’t forget it because, extraordinarily, he and his family are still in hiding. Equally extraordinarily, little is said about this.The debate about the events at BGS, like many about Islam, blasphemy and offence, has been framed by two polarised arguments. Many on the reactionary right (and not just the reactionary right) view such confrontations as the unacceptable price of mass immigration and the inevitable product of a Muslim presence in western societies. Many liberals and radicals, on the other hand, think it morally wrong to cause offence, believing that for diverse societies to function, there is a need to self-censor so as not to disrespect different cultures and beliefs. Neither argument bears much scrutiny. The most comprehensive account of the events at BGS comes in a review <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65fdbfd265ca2ffef17da79c/The_Khan_review.pdf">published last week by Sara Khan</a>, the government’s independent adviser on “social cohesion and resilience”. The lesson that sparked the controversy was designed, ironically, to explore issues of blasphemy and free speech, and of appropriate ways of responding to religious disagreements. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/31/batley-school-what-teacher-in-hiding-can-tell-us-about-our-failure-to-tackle-intolerance">Continue reading...</a>

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published: 2024-03-31 08:00:34.000000000 Z
image: https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/957a0adb2cb4c4264cf16f75bc8db590853e4253/52_247_2977_1785/master/2977.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=2f71015b1dd9c34371e61e25bb99e693
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 guid: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/31/batley-school-what-teacher-in-hiding-can-tell-us-about-our-failure-to-tackle-intolerance
title: What a teacher in hiding can tell us about our failure to tackle intolerance
 | Kenan Malik
categories:
- Islam
- Religion
- Islamophobia
- UK news
- Yorkshire
- Religious studies and theology
- Charlie Hebdo attack
- Schools
- Teaching
- Teacher Network
- Censorship
carlessian_info:
 news_filer_version: 2
 newspaper: US general21
 macro_region: USA
summary: A class about free speech was cynically exploited by activists to incite
 fury in a local communityThree years ago, on 25&nbsp;March 2021, a teacher
 from Batley Grammar School (BGS) in West Yorkshire was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/devastated-batley-teacher-fearing-life-20282177">forced
 into hiding</a> after a religious studies class he gave led to&nbsp;protests from
 Muslim parents <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/mar/25/batley-head-apologises-for-teacher-using-charlie-hebdo-cartoons">and&nbsp;to
 death threats</a>. Today, that incident has been largely forgotten. Except by the
 teacher. He can’t forget it because, extraordinarily, he and his family are still
 in hiding. Equally extraordinarily, little is said about this.The debate
 about the events at BGS, like many about Islam, blasphemy and offence, has been
 framed by two polarised arguments. Many on the reactionary right (and not just the
 reactionary right) view such confrontations as the unacceptable price of mass immigration
 and the inevitable product of a Muslim presence in western societies. Many liberals
 and radicals, on the other hand, think it morally wrong to cause offence, believing
 that for diverse societies to function, there is a need to self-censor so as not
 to disrespect different cultures and beliefs. Neither argument bears much scrutiny.
 The most comprehensive account of the events at BGS comes in a review <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65fdbfd265ca2ffef17da79c/The_Khan_review.pdf">published
 last week by Sara Khan</a>, the government’s independent adviser on “social cohesion
 and resilience”. The lesson that sparked the controversy was designed, ironically,
 to explore issues of blasphemy and free speech, and of appropriate ways of responding
 to religious disagreements. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/31/batley-school-what-teacher-in-hiding-can-tell-us-about-our-failure-to-tackle-intolerance">Continue
 reading...</a>
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url: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/31/batley-school-what-teacher-in-hiding-can-tell-us-about-our-failure-to-tackle-intolerance
author: Kenan Malik

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