PROTESTERS are set to gather for the third time at the Slough Borough Council building demanding the resignation of the deputy leader.
Campaigners will again make their voices heard today for councillor Sabia Akram (Lab: Elliman) to stand down as the second-in-command of the leadership over controversial social media posts she made a few weeks back.
In her now deleted Facebook page, Cllr Akram said she was “shocked and saddened” to see the Batley Grammar School teacher and his family to go into hiding after receiving death threats over showing a Charlie Hebdo cartoon of the Prophet Muhammed in a religious studies class.
While not defending the teacher’s “disrespectful” actions, Cllr Akram, who is Muslim, said he should be forgiven for his mistake, not threatened to be killed.
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She also called for Muslim leaders not to condone those who are sending threats to the teacher and those protesting outside the school gates, disrupting pupils learning.
On her Facebook post, she wrote: “To the teacher, if you need to leave Batley which I wouldn’t blame you! Come to Slough. We’ll welcome you and your family.”
This sparked anger as some saw it as the deputy leader being sympathetic to the “blasphemous’ teacher, leading to a now-closed petition calling for her to resign her leadership role.
Over 1,300 people signed it.
The petitioner said: “Anyone who disrespects our Prophet (pbuh) has no position in our lives,” adding “I don’t wish to see this evil person as my leader”.
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Before deleting her Facebook page, Cllr Akram did apologise for “any hurt” her previous posts caused and did not mean to cause “great offence” to anyone, nor to undermine the Prophet and his esteem.
For the past few weeks, protesters have been gathering outside the Slough Borough Council building on Fridays demanding Cllr Akram to stand down as deputy leader for welcoming the controversial teacher to Slough.
Today’s protest, Friday, April 23, will be the third instalment.
Organisers say it will be conducted in a ‘peaceful and lawful manner’ and have asked attendees to wear face masks and practise social distancing.
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