A teacher in Yorkshire, England, has gone into hiding after protests from the local Muslim community erupted outside of his school after he showed an image of the Prophet Mohammed during a religious education class.
The protesters say that the showing of the image insults their religion. Earlier this year, a teacher in France was beheaded by an Islamic extremist after he showed a cartoon image of the Prophet Mohammed in class. Prior to the killing, teacher Samuel Paty, had been targeted online by Muslims angry at what he had done.
The English teacher, who is in his 20s, is not being named for security reasons, but his father spoke to the Daily Mail newspaper, and said:
"My son keeps breaking down crying and says that it's all over for him. He is worried that he and his family are all going to be killed. He knows that he's not going to be able to return to work or live in Batley. It's just going to be too dangerous for him and his family. Look what happened to the teacher in France who was killed for doing the same thing. Eventually they will get my son and he knows this. His whole world has been turned upside down. He's devastated and crushed. When he starts speaking, he just breaks down and cries. He's become an emotional wreck."
He continued, saying:
"He feels that everything is broken and, to be honest, it's hard to console him at the moment because that is the truth. The school has thrown my son under a bus. The lesson that he delivered in which the picture of the Prophet Muhammad was shown was part of the curriculum, it had been approved by the school. Other teachers have done exactly the same thing. So why is my son being victimised like this? The school should have come out fighting for him and made it clear to the protestors that if offence was caused, then it was not my son's fault. It was the school's policy to show this picture, it wasn't an individual decision made by him."
He finished by saying:
"Even if he gets his job back, how can he possibly return to Batley Grammar School? It will be far too risky. And how will he be able to walk around the town with his kids, doing normal things knowing that he could be killed? Sadly, his life here in Batley is over and it's very daunting for him to think about starting somewhere else afresh. My wife is petrified that we'll also be targeted and has become a bag of nerves since all this happened. She's unable to stay in our home. This whole incident has had a devastating impact on us, and we are all scared about the situation we find ourselves in."
One protestor outside the school told reporters:
"The teachers have breached the position of trust and failed their duty of safeguarding, and this issue must be addressed as a matter of urgency."
[h/t: Daily Mail]
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