A reader of this website brought to my attention a BBC News report dated 3/1/06 and headed “Mohammed cartoon put up in office”. The piece begins “Extremists have been blamed after a cartoon featuring the prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban was put up in a housing office in Oldham”. We are told further on that the “matter had been reported to the police” and that staff had been “offended” and that Oldham Council said “the cartoon could be part of an attempt by right-wing extremists to increase tension ahead of council elections in May”. The storm in this teacup picks up steam until it reaches hurricane force by concluding, “Greater Manchester Police said they were treating the incident “extremely seriously” and were worried the incident could affect “community cohesion.
A spokeswoman said Greater Manchester Police treat any incitement of racial hatred extremely seriously and robustly investigate any such incidents that are reported to us. We will not tolerate any acts of racial discrimination and are committed to working with local communities to tackle any issues that may arise”.
For those who once knew Britain as the land of free speech, a place where a sense of proportion existed in public affairs and where the police kept out of politics, it is difficult to know which aspect of this article is most breathtaking.
Let us start with the BBC report itself. It drips with approval of the “official” response. There is no doubt where the BBC and its reporter stands. They are clearly affronted by the posting of this cartoon, and their identification with the responses of the Housing Department and the police force is seamless. It is as if Pravda was reporting the actions of the NKVD in the old Soviet Union. No-one in modern Britain should be under any illusion that the BBC (and the rest of the mainstream Media) in some way exercises a check on the misuse of power or fosters a variety of viewpoints on issues promoted by Leftists. In this BBC report, the illegitimacy of poking fun at, or making a political statement about Islam, is taken for granted.
No doubt the Housing manager was right to remove the cartoon, since his notice board is not the place to make political statements (no matter how apt they may be). If its brief appearance offended some employees, they should be told to get over it and keep a sense of proportion. All employees could be told to leave their political beliefs at the front door and that is the end of it. To refer this matter to the Council and the police is the stuff of Communist dictatorships unable to tolerate the slightest dissent.
The response of Oldham Council, (note it is the Chief Executive, a paid official and a supposedly non political functionary, who responds), is even more alarming. His accusation that “right-wing extremists” are attempting to increase tension ahead of the of Council elections, is right out of the playbook of Stalin’s Soviet Union of the 1930’s, when oppositionists were silenced by being labeled as wreckers, counter revolutionaries and working on behalf of sinister forces. Chief Executive Mr Kilburn is, no doubt, referring to the BNP, a legitimate opposition party.
The police response leaves no doubt that the police forces of the UK are now completely politicized and ready to enforce the new totalitarianism. The cartoon is not racist, but may be adjudged anti-religious, so where is the alleged incitement of racial hatred? What business of the police is “community cohesion” and from where do the police forces get the power to say that THEY “will not tolerate” actions that are clearly political and not an incitement to violence? I can see no separation of powers here between the Housing Department and various officials, politicians of the ruling party, the police and the Media. This should frighten everyone who nurses the illusion that the British are still a free people.
There are other truths peeking out in this little episode. Oldham must be a tinder box if a cartoon posted on an office wall can threaten community cohesion, whatever that is. So much for the multi-cultural experiment! And we all know that a cartoon poking fun at Christianity would be applauded as evidence of open mindedness and creativity. This after all was in the week when the Jerry Springer show received another dollop of public money so that it could be taken to more audiences. The BBC has shamelessly promoted this offensive anti-Christian performance at every opportunity.
On this website, we are not surprised that the BBC is happy about the hunting down of the cartoon poster in Oldham. We do not expect it to be defending free speech and diversity of views, since its journalists have not been doing that for many years. Now that the Media is the ruling class and is in the business of imposing its values and its agenda on society, it has no toleration for dissent. One of the items near the top of its agenda is the destruction of national identity. The destruction of traditional Christianity and the temporary promotion of foreign religions is a blow against national identity. The BBC, which is funded by taxation and not hindered by market forces, is always in the forefront of the Media Class’ assault on our culture and traditional freedoms. Fuelling the Oldham flap is official panic, for the unmentioned fear is of the BNP and the Oldham voters.
One final thought! Does anyone believe that an Oldham resident would get a quick response from its police force for a real crime?